


Camp Falling Star

by Fanfic_or_bust



Category: Karamel - Fandom, Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, KaraMel, Multi Chapter, Slow Burn, all the characters will be in it eventually, teenage karamel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2018-10-13 09:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10510989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanfic_or_bust/pseuds/Fanfic_or_bust
Summary: Summer Camp AU!Mon-El crashed to Earth six months ago, landing near the Matthews' family home on their remote camp ground. They took him in, but he hasn't had the easiest time adjusting to life on Earth. When summer comes around, Carol and Phil Matthews decide that he should work as a counselor at the couple's summer camp, thinking it would be good for him to meet new people. He's been expecting to hate it and dreading it for weeks. And then he sees her. The girl with the blue eyes. Can summer camp be fun, after all?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first attempt at a multi-chap Karamel fic AND my first Karamel AU not based around cannon! I'm a little nervous to hear what you all think! I'm planning for this to be a longer multichapter, ongoing fic if you guys like it and want more so let me know at the end!

              Mon-El sat in his usual spot on the old porch swing, a leg thrown over the arm and foot reaching to the bannister to casually to push himself back and forth. He was watching the yellow school bus pull up into the dirt parking lot across the way, trying not to be interested but watching nonetheless. As the bus lurched to a stop, he sighed, putting down the glass of lemonade he’d been sipping. This was it. It was either run away now or go through with it.

              Running away was tempting, it really was. But he wasn’t going to do it. Not after the kindness the Matthews family had shown him over the last six months, since he had crashed in their field, destroying a centuries old maple and leaving thousands of Earth dollars in damages in his wake. But they hadn’t minded. For some reason they had shown him nothing but love, taking him in despite all the trouble he had caused them, and Mon-El still didn’t understand why… why they would welcome him so quickly, despite him not fitting in. Despite his anger and his sadness, his screw ups and his ignorance. Why their hearts were so open to an outsider, he didn’t think he’d ever know. It was just so unlike his own parents. Things had been so different back home… but it was still too raw. He couldn’t think about it yet.

              “Carol!” Mon-El called from his seat, his voice carrying easily through the old screen door. “Bus is here!” Then he turned his attention back to the parking lot. The bus had cranked open its doors and people were starting to depart. Most had smaller bags with them, and as he watched, the bus driver walked around to the back and opened the rear door, climbed up, and started tossing large duffle bags down onto the ground. The passengers were making their way around to the back and grabbing them, a few of them grumbling about the rough treatment. Mon-El chuckled as he watched one nerdy looking boy worrying over his laptop that was apparently in the bag that had just hit the ground. And then a blonde girl came to help him, and she had Mike’s full attention. She smiled as she leaned down and grabbed the bag, lifting it effortlessly. She was beautiful, and smiling and--

              “Are you eavesdropping, Mike?” Carol asked, startling him, as she stepped out onto the creaky old porch. He looked to her, his smile washing from his face.

              “I’m sorry, I-“ he started.

              “You can’t help it, I know.” She finished for him, smiling warmly. She came and put her hand on his shoulder. He winced, but only just a little. At least the urge to counter with physical deflection was going away… when Mon-El had first come to Earth, he was so unused to physical expression of affection that he had once flipped his foster father, Phil, clean onto his back when he’d gone in for a hug.

He had been so twitchy, so uncomfortable with affection. Phil had called it some form of PTSD, but it seemed strange to consider his upbringing as traumatic because by Daxam standards, he had lived in the ultimate lap of privilege. The problem was that apparently Daxam’s standards had set the bar very low. It wasn’t until he came to Earth that Mon-El realized how traumatized he truly had been, growing up like that. He hadn’t known the difference then, but he did now. He was still getting used to it. It was hard.

              And to add to all of it, there was something about this planet that had… changed him. He had had extraordinary strength, since the moment he woke up. And as the days passed, more and more strange things had been happening to him. He seemed to be growing faster and faster every day, faster now than even the human eye could track. And his eyesight had improved, too. So much so that he could zoom in and focus on things tremendously far away. He had set up a book across the field once, and found he could read the pages with ease from his seat on the porch swing.

              All of it was a lot to get used to. But the super hearing… that had been the worst. The headaches at first had been hard to deal with. Everything was just so _loud._ Phil and Carol had been hoping to enroll him in high school, but it had soon proved impossible until Mon-El could learn to filter out all the noise. Carol had been home schooling him, since then, teaching him all she could from the solitude of their remote family home and campground. In the months that had passed, things had gotten a lot better. Mon-El could now function on trips to town and as he mastered the skill, he found that the super hearing was a great form of entertainment. He could now listen to conversations a mile away, and found he learned so many of the nuances of human interaction that way. But when Carol found out what he was doing, she had informed him that was rude, and he had to try not to do it, as best he could.

              And he tried, he really did. For Carol. But sometimes he forgot he was trying not to, and he found himself just listening. “I’m sorry, Carol.” He said, probably for the millionth time since crashing here six months ago. He meant it, too. But he couldn’t seem to help himself from screwing up again and again.

              “I know, you must be nervous. But this is important, and I think it will be good for you. You need to be around kids your own age.” She said kindly but firmly, taking the hand from Mon-El’s shoulder and waving to the people in the distance. “Look, camp is supposed to be fun. And I’ve known a lot of those kids down there since there were children, many of them have been coming here every summer since they were little. They’re good kids, for the most part. I think if you just put your mind to it, you might even make some friends.” She added, smiling but leaving no room for argument. “Now grab your bag and head down there to join them.” She instructed.

              Mon-El sighed dramatically but did as he was told, groaning as he got up slowly, mimicking behaviour he’d seen on tv because of course his joints didn’t protest and his muscles didn’t ache, he didn’t feel fatigue like a human did. “Can’t I just sleep here? This doesn’t make any sense…” He argued, one last time, just for the hell of it. It didn’t make much sense to him that he’d have to stay in a cabin with the other Camp Falling Star counsellors when his bedroom was on the property. But just as he expected, Carol shot him “the look”. The one with _the eyebrow_. And Mon-El looked down, contritely.

              “Not this again, Mike.”

              “Alright, fine.” He agreed. He didn’t want to upset her, even if the prospect of joining the loud group of teenagers down in the parking lot was filling him with dread. What if they didn’t like him? What if he couldn’t fit in? Or worse, what if he hurt somebody?

              His bag was laying by the stairs, and he walked towards it, swinging it over his shoulder like it was light as a feather. “But what if I don’t like it?” He asked, turning back to Carol, his voice plainly giving away his anxiety. After a pause and what looked to be an internal debate, she smiled kindly once more, wrapping him in a big hug.

              “Just try it first. Then we’ll talk.” She said, budging more than she had in all the arguments they’d had regarding the Matthews’ decision to have Mon-El work at their camp in an effort to socialize him. And that’s all Mon-El needed. Suddenly, his spirits brightened immensely. His dread turned to relief. All he’d have to do was get through a couple days and then he’d go back home and tell them it wasn’t working out. And he was sure he could get through a couple days at least.

              “You promise?” He asked, making sure, and he thought maybe Carol could read the relief on his face and she thought of maybe changing her mind, but she pursed her lips slightly and nodded, the stern look quickly melting into one of affection.

              “One week, then we’ll talk. But you have to promise to have an open mind. I really do think you’ll have fun, Mike, if you just let yourself.” She said encouragingly, then she placed both hands on Mon-El’s shoulders, causing him to jump in shock once again, and she firmly turned him towards the bus. “Now go. And have some fun. Staff week is always a blast. Enjoy it before the kids get here next week, that’s when the real work begins.” She laughed, and gently pushed him on his way.

              Mon-El looked back at her and flashed a smile. “Thanks Carol.” He said, genuinely. He meant it, he knew she meant the best for him. But also he knew he didn’t have any intention of being a part of the camp life past this week. One week. That’s all he had to get through, and Carol had almost guaranteed he could quit and ride out the summer in his room. Or, at least, that’s how he’d heard it.

              And so, with this thought buoying his spirits up, he turned his head to face the group of teenagers grouped around the picnic tables off the side of the parking lot. Many were watching him approach, a few whispering to each other. He took a deep breath and held his head up higher, determined not to show his nervousness to the group. On Daxam, weakness was preyed upon. He didn’t know if the same could be said for Earth teenagers, but he didn’t want to risk it.

He scanned the crowd, looking for the nerdy boy that had made him laugh, and found him sitting under a nearby tree. He looked friendly, and not intimidating, and if Mon-El was going to make it through this week he had to try to at least make one friend. He was starting towards the tree to introduce himself when he noticed the boy wasn’t alone. And as he approached the boy’s companion looked up at him and that’s when he saw them—his breath caught in his throat, the shock stopping him in his tracks.

              A pair of blue eyes. Watching him. But not just blue. The bluest blue. Like _comets._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mon-El hasn't had any friends his own age since he was back on Daxam, so it isn't without a lot of nerves that he introduces himself to the boy he spotted from the porch, who he hopes will be a new friend to help him get through the week. And wouldn't it be great if he happened to know the girl with the blue eyes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks soooo much to everyone that left comments encouraging me to keep going with this! I spent a lot of time thinking about what all of our super friends would be like as teenagers, I hope you like my interpretation! This will be a bit of a slow burn if you want more, but I'm hoping to get chapters out pretty frequently.
> 
> Enjoy!

 

Mon-El stood there stunned, for a moment, and he swallowed hard as the weight of their eye contact grew heavy. He chanced a smile at the girl, and she smiled back before looking down, blushing, a wave of blonde falling over her face. As their eye contact broke, Mon-El found the spell momentarily lifted and he was able to move once again. With a force of will he shook it off and continued on his way to introduce himself to the boy he’d spotted earlier.

              “Uhh, hi.” Mon-El started, awkwardly, taking one of the hands that were shoved in his pocket and waving once. He addressed his words to the boy, though he couldn’t help his gaze from flicking back to the blonde girl with the eyes who was sitting a little ways away, looking at pictures someone was showing her. “Hey, hi.” He added, his repetition of words an old nervous tick. “I’m-I’m Mike.” He inwardly cringed at his awkwardness. He was never like that on Daxam, he had mastered his charming façade years ago, after many beatings to correct his behaviours. But this wasn’t Daxam, and he’d been living in virtual solitude since coming to Earth. He had rarely interacted with anyone but the Matthews since arriving, and he supposed it would take some getting used to.

              The boy didn’t answer at first. He just kept looking down at whatever he was reading on his laptop. The awkwardness stretched for a beat or two, long enough for Mon-El to wonder if he was ignoring him, before he looked up at him, his eyes wide with surprise. “Oh, sorry-- you mean me?” He asked, pointing to himself like it was a question, like he was confused.

              “Uhh,” Mon-El scratched his head, “Well yeah.” He said with a shy smile and an arched a brow, assessing the boy and trying to figure out where his confusion was stemming from. Maybe he was confused because Mon-El couldn’t keep his eyes off the blonde girl? She made it hard, though. And she kept sneaking glances at him, too. That hadn’t slipped by him.

              “Oh, uhh, because… you know the jocks are over there, right?” He asked skeptically, pointing towards a group of raucous boys and pretty girls that were seated around a picnic table. There was something about his tone, sarcastic but also vulnerable, and Mon-El laughed, understanding. The boy was an outsider, not used to people approaching him. Perfect. Mon-El could relate. His resolve to befriend the boy instantly doubled.

              “Yeah, cool. So you gonna tell me your name?” He persisted, smirking at him, crossing his arms across his chest. The boy’s eyes narrowed, sizing Mon-El up, and then a begrudging smile formed.

              “Winn Schott Jr., nice to meet you.” He finally replied, smiling and putting down his laptop so he could stand up to shake Mon-El’s hand. Mon-El nervously held out his hand in return and carefully shook the one offered to him, careful not to squeeze too tight. He’d actually been practicing with Phil and had almost broken his bones on more than one occasion, but in this case it went smoothly and Mon-El smiled widely in relief.

              “Nice to meet you Winn Schott Jr.” Mon-El greeted, brightly.

              “Likewise… Mike, you said? So is this your first summer? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.” The boy questioned, his face scrunched a little like he was searching his memory.

              “Oh, I—uhhh, I-“ Mon-El started, but he was interrupted.

              “--You’re the Matthews’ new foster son, aren’t you?” It was the girl, the captivating blonde one. She had stood up and was walking towards them, her face smiling and eager. She was stunning, like sunlight personified, and the energy she exuded was so full of life. He was so caught off guard he forgot to speak. The silence went on just a little too long before her cheeks started to turn pink. “You are, I think.” She stammered, trying to fill the pause. “Right? I just saw you with Carol. I mean… I’m sorry if that’s too-“

              “No, no, you’re right.” Mon-El rushed in to save her. “I’ve been here around six months.” He added, his mouth turning up into a smile at the end. “Why, you heard about me?”

              “You didn’t know? The whole _town’s_ heard about you.” She laughed, like he’d told a joke, and she leaned forward to playfully push his shoulder. Mon-El didn’t even think to wince, he was too busy being surprised that he actually felt the momentum of her push and he leaned back with the impact. That was… unusual. The moment it happened, his eyes had snapped to hers and she had done the same thing. She was looking back with the same intensity, and for an instant they remained locked, ocean grey with comet blue, the feeling inscrutable, and then the moment passed and they both regained their jovial demeanors.

              “Don’t mind her, this is Kara, by the way. She has this problem with her filter. In that, she actually doesn’t have one.” The boy cut in apologetically, teasing Kara at the same time. She laughed and shrugged, like she wasn’t disagreeing. Mon-El smiled at the dynamic between the two. It would seem that they were friends.

              “So you know Winn Schott Jr.?” He asked curiously, his eyebrows raised.

              “Just Winn is good.” The boy interjected, laughing, and Mon-El wanted to smack himself on the forehead. He was trying so hard to sound and act like a normal teenager, he’d watched about a thousand hours of high school shows and movies, but he was still so new to everything.

              “So you know Winn?” He corrected himself, feeling the blush rise up his neck and into his cheeks. He wasn’t easily embarrassed, but in the few minutes they’d been talking, Mon-El had quickly decided he wanted Winn as a friend. And in the minute or two since he’d met Kara… well he didn’t know what was going on there. What the feelings he was having were all about. He barely knew her. And yet there was something about her… and then there was that thing that happened when she pushed him and it actually made him budge. He let it slide, but he wanted nothing more than to be around these two people, he felt instantly sure that they would get him through this week before he could quit and escape to his room. He didn’t want to screw that up.

              “Oh yeah, Winn and I go back to my first summer here. I was new to town, and he was my first friend at camp.” She answered, her smile blinding as she looked fondly at Winn and threw her arm around him. He lost his balance a little as he did and fell into her, but Kara didn’t seem to notice. She was looking at Mon-El again, her eyes bright and friendly.

              “Oh you were new too?” He asked, curious.

              “Yeah, actually you and Kara have a lot in common.” Winn interjected eagerly, a finger wagging back and forth between the two of them. “Kara is a foster kid too!” And then his eyes went wide, as he realized he may have just said something he shouldn’t have in all his excitement.

              Mon-El looked to Kara and she was smiling shyly, unoffended, and nodded once before bobbing her head around like she didn’t totally agree. “Well actually the Danvers officially adopted me last year.” She corrected. “But I was, mmhmm.”

              Mon-El couldn’t really believe the coincidence. “Wow, congratulations!” Was all he could think to say, and she laughed in response.

              “Thank you.” She said kindly.

              “So you live in town then? Where were you before that?” He asked, unaware or unthinking that that was a touchy question to ask a foster kid. The thought popped into his head, though, and he was embarrassed to have asked when her eyes shifted a little, awkwardly, and she paused.

              “Oh you know, out of town.” She said unspecifically, trailing off. “How about you?” She challenged, the blue fire lighting once more behind her eyes as she questioned him. He smiled, scratching the back of his head, his eyes shifting like hers did.

              “Hah, yeah, you know… out of town.” He agreed, and they shared a moment of common understanding, when Winn cut in.

              “Well aren’t you two just like the wonder twins!” Winn laughed, and Kara’s eyes went wide, and Mon-El could see the excitement for whatever idea she had just come up with.

              “Wonder twin powers activate!” She laughed, holding out a fist to Winn.

              “Form of…” Winn continued, holding his fist out to hers and touching their knuckles, looking to Kara to finish. She seemed to be thinking.

              “A gorilla!” She finished, and they both started laughing hysterically as they danced around like a pair of apes. Mon-El just stood and watched, figuring it was some old joke between the two, he laughed along with them. These two goofs were going to be his new best friends, he just knew it.

              After a moment they stopped, out of breath from laughing, and with bright, apologetic eyes, Kara frowned at Mon-El. “I’m sorry, Mike.” She said with a pout that quickly turned back to a smile as she wiped a tear of laughter from her eye. “Old joke, and I haven’t seen Winn in so long.” She added in explanation.

              “Last chance to go hang with the cool kids.” Winn shrugged, smiling, and Mon-El laughed.

              “Nah, I’m good.” He assured them.

              “Wow, he’s a brave one.” Kara marvelled, eyes dramatically wide and face jokingly serious.

              “He won’t even last a week.” Winn disagreed, teasing, but Mon-El felt a pang in his gut as he said it. That was the plan, actually. Though the plan hadn’t involved him meeting people he actually got along with, either. Let alone people he would actually want to be friends with. He put the thought aside, though. He’d deal with that later.

              “So you guys just know each other from camp?” Mon-El asked, eager to learn more about the two.

“Actually Kara and I used to go to school together, too, before my dad got this new job at a tech development company in National City a couple years ago. I left after freshman year. Now I come back here for the summers.” Winn explained, and Kara pouted again, and Mon-El tried to ignore the things it did to him. The way she pushed her full bottom lip out and it shined, and her forehead crinkled… it was adorable. He didn’t know if it was a correct human reaction, but he wanted to make her do it again. He wanted to tease her and make her laugh and pout, and make jokes with her. But would one week be enough?

“I wish you could come back for senior year.” She groaned, and Mon-El had to look away, it was too much. Winn seemed oblivious, however, and he threw his shoulders up in a shrug.

“I’ve been fighting my dad for two years, I think coming back for the summers is the biggest win I’m going to get in that war.” He said with a sigh, before adding, “And you know my dad is a bit…”

“Terrifying?” Kara suggested.

“I was going to say intimidating, but yeah, uh-huh, that about sums it up.” He agreed, nodding, and Mon-El could see the real, genuine fear laced beneath the humour and his heart went out to the boy. He could relate on such a deep level, he knew how he felt.

“I, uh, I know the feeling.” He joined in, smiling. Then adding “You know, _before,_ not the Matthews… they’re-they’re great.” He added hastily, worried his new friends might think he was talking about the couple that had taken him in. They were, in Mon-El’s eyes, on a saint-like level, though it didn’t stop him from arguing and acting like a teenager with them from time to time.

“So… do you guys know what’s next?” Mon-El asked, looking around at the group of 25 or so teenagers of various ages that all seemed to be waiting to be told what to do.

“Carol and Phil didn’t tell you?” Kara asked, and Mon-El looked down, a little embarrassed.

“Let’s just say I wasn’t really asking many questions… this wasn’t totally my idea. In that… it was totally their idea.” He admitted, truthfully. He didn’t know why he was so embarrassed about not wanting to work at the camp, but around the enthusiasm of Winn and Kara, his teenage rebellion and apathy seemed out of place. “But… I’m glad I came.” He decided to add, surprising himself with how truthful it felt. He still planned to leave… but maybe he could still hang out with these two after he quit? He’d still be on the property…

Kara looked shocked and then excited. “Have you never been to camp before?” She asked, like she was bursting at the seams. “Oh I LOVE camp, I’ve come here every summer since I moved in with the Danvers when I was 13, I’m going to be so sad when I go off to College and I can’t come back.”

“Or you could just be like John and keep coming back til you’re like 30.” Winn suggested, with a mischievous look over his shoulder at a tall, serious looking black man standing not too far away.

“I heard that, Winn.” The man called, his deep voice reverberating with disapproval, but then the mask of seriousness cracked and a smile broke through. “And I’m 27, for the record. And YOUR superior this summer, so watch it.” The two stared each other down for a moment before laughing and turning back to their conversations.

“And _that_ ray of sunshine is John, the Recreation Director.” Winn explained to the clueless but thoroughly entertained Mon-El. “But what were you saying?” Winn asked, like he’d gotten off track and forgotten what they had been talking about.

“He wanted to know what was next.” Kara stated, and Mon-El nodded.

“Well I was just curious, do we just hang out beside the parking lot all day?” Mon-El asked, looking around, and Kara laughed.

“No, actually any minute-“ She paused, craning her neck and looking around. Her blue eyes caught on something in the distance and Mon-El followed her gaze to see Carol and Phil walking down the pathway in the distance. “Ah! There they are! Carol and Phil will come down and give us our bunk assignments and do all the welcoming, and then tonight there will be a big bonfire! And we’ll sing and tell ghost stories and –oh my god—S’mores!” She sang the last word with a reverence, her eyes rolling back in her head.

“What’s a s’more?” He couldn’t help himself from asking, and at the wide eyed shocked look she gave him he added “Sorry! I guess we didn’t have them… where I come from.” He trailed awkwardly.

“Don’t get her started!” Winn groaned. “I’ve never seen anyone love sweets more than Kara.”

“Oh my gosh you HAVE to try one. That’s it, I’m making you a s’more at the campfire tonight.” She declared decisively. Mon-El smiled and tried to ignore the squirmy, tickly feeling he was feeling in his stomach as he thought about sitting out with her tonight, under the stars.

“I’d like that.” He said, and the words came out unintentionally soft. Almost vulnerable. Her eyes went straight to his and caught there for a moment before she looked away, the shy smile and blush returning.

And then, before they had a chance to talk further, Phil and Carol were climbing up onto one of the picnic tables, ringing a cowbell of all things, and calling for everyone to gather round. Kara squealed with excitement. “This is it!” She gushed, running off towards the Matthews. Mon-El wasn’t the ‘rushing in excitement’ kind of guy, though, and he was glad to see that Winn wasn’t either. They hung to the back of the crowd as the Matthews began a highly animated and enthusiastic welcoming speech.

As they talked, Mon-El snuck a glance at Winn, and then at Kara, whose blonde waves were just visible at the front of the crowd, and he paused a moment to ponder the unlikeliness that in the span of maybe 10 minutes he had gone from isolated loner to meeting these two… it was certainly strange, how the universe worked, sometimes.

And as he listened to the Matthews, the group occasionally laughing or calling out in return, Mon-El gazed at the back of her head, thinking about the series of unlikely coincidences that brought him to this moment. This planet. This country. This family. This time. This _girl._ He was lost in thought as she turned around and her eyes caught his own. They were like magnets, and he couldn’t look away. So once more, he smiled at her, and she smiled back, and her cheeks turned pink but this time she held the gaze and it wasn’t until someone standing between them moved and broke their line of sight that the connection broke.

And there _was_ a connection. Mon-El could feel it. He just didn’t know what it was yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol I hope you liked it! This was a lot of dialogue for me so I'd love your feedback on what you liked or didn't and if you think I should keep going! I hope you still want more because I'm starting to get more and more ideas :)
> 
> ps. there are some formatting errors with indentation, I don't know how they happened and it's driving me crazy but I can't seem to fix it so oh well lol


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winn needs Mon-El's help to finally get the good bunk in the cabin, and Mon-El starts to meet the other campers and realizes they aren't all as friendly as Winn and Kara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I'm back to updating this fic! Not giving up on Season's Change either, that's my primary, but this fic is pure fluff and fun and it was fun to write so I'm hoping to get back into it. Please let me know if you like it and would like me to keep going! 
> 
> FYI some characters are going to be a little different in this fic than they are on Supergirl for plot reasons, but I'm trying to keep everyone as teenage-on character as I can.

              Towards the end of Carol and Phil’s animated and rousing welcome speech, Mon-El noticed Winn surreptitiously moving to the other side of the crowd. He seemed anxious, and he kept sneaking glances at another group of boys that were standing together. Mon-El didn’t have to be a native of Earth to know that those were the “popular” boys. They looked the same everywhere. They stood up taller, they were always at ease, they owned every space they occupied, even giant open fields. It didn’t mean they were bad guys necessarily, but Mon-El currently had no interest in them. He did, however, want to help his new friend in any way that he could.

              So Mon-El followed Winn, quietly moving around the back, wondering what was happening. He snuck a glance at the group that Winn was nervous about, and just as he did, a tall, muscular black boy looked him straight in the eye. His expression was immediately suspicious and Mon-El straightened up, looking back towards Phil and Carol, trying to appear innocent. He whistled a little, as Earth people did when they were being casual and not at all suspicious, and out of his peripheral vision, he saw the boy turn towards his friends. They were now moving to the side as well, and Mon-El sagged in disappointment. He’d failed his new friend already. Whatever it was that Winn was doing, they were now onto him.

              Knowing there was nothing to lose, Mon-El closed the distance between himself and Winn. “I think I blew it for you, man.” He whispered, as he made it. Winn sighed, taking a look at the popular boys before turning back to Mon-El and shrugging.

              “It’s ok Mike, I couldn’t beat them anyways, even if I had a head start. Just wishful thinking.” He replied, his previously animated and excited voice now full of… something. Mon-El tried to figure it out, but the closest he could figure was _shame._ And he didn’t like the thought of his new friend feeling shame in regards to those other overgrown pretty boys. Also, he still had no idea what Winn was talking about.

              “Beat them? Are we going to have to fight?” Mon-El asked, his eyes wide. Was that what happened at summer camp? He hadn’t seen that in _Camp Rock._ But he hadn’t seen anyone break into song yet, either. For some reason, Mon-El’s words broke through the frown on Winn’s face and he chuckled before his smile returned.

              “Maybe for a half-decent bunk in the cabin, yeah.” He said, still chuckling. He was looking at Mon-El funny, one eyebrow quirked up a little like he wasn’t sure if he was serious, but he didn’t look like he cared. Mon-El blushed, realizing he’d acted odd. He supposed he should have known there wouldn’t be organized brawls at summer camp, surely Phil and Carol would have said something. Mon-El silently cursed himself, he hadn’t spent hundreds of hours absorbing teenage media as research to act like a total Doofus. Luckily for him, Winn didn’t seem to mind.

              “Oh. Yeah.” Mon-El said, embarrassed, and luckily Winn began to elaborate, likely having seen that Mon-El had no idea what was going on.

              “Any second now Phil and Carol are going to assign the bunks, and then everyone is going to tear up that hill, and those guys are going to get there first and get all the best beds. I’ll be stuck at the back, as usual.” He explained, and Mon-El nodded thoughtfully.

              “Ohhh…” He said, though he didn’t fully get it. “And what’s so bad about the back?” He asked, figuring that one would maybe _want_ to be in the back, in case a Jason showed up, then all the other guys at the front would get killed first.

              “Air conditioning, man.” Winn said, looking up at him. “Or rather, a lack there-of.” He added. “Have you ever had to sleep _inside_ an armpit, Mike?” He asked, and Mon-El laughed at the genuine fear on his face.

              “Okay,” Mon-El conceded, chuckling now himself. “Okay, I get it. So which beds are best?” He asked, and Winn looked him up and down, appraisingly.

              “Why, you think you could beat them up there?” Winn asked, hopeful. He started nodding as he checked out Mon-El’s physique, looking back up at him now cautiously optimistic. “Yeah, I mean, you’re not _big_ like them, but you’re kind of wiry, like a runner. Do you do track?” He added, and Mon-El froze. Track. _Track._ What was track again? But he was taking too long. Best thing to do was agree.

              “Yeah, I, uh, I do tracks all the time.” He nodded, and Winn laughed.

              “You’re too much, man.” He said, slapping Mon-El on the shoulder, then pulling his hand back as though it hurt. “Ow!” He exclaimed in surprise, shaking it off and looking up at Mon-El with a newfound respect. “Holy shit dude, you’re _solid!_ You don’t even look that built!”

              Mon-El felt his face go bright red as he tried to casually shrug, pretending as though he didn’t have a terrifying fear of being discovered as an Alien. He knew what people of Earth did to Aliens, he’d seen it in a dozen movies. They sent in men in white suits like on E.T. and they’d do experiments on him. He couldn’t let that happen, he couldn’t let anyone know. So he made a noise to blow off Winn’s comment, like ‘ _pssshhh’_ , then he laughed, looking around for help and catching a glimpse of blonde across the crowd and feeling his stomach jolt as he did. “Protein.” He finally answered and Winn’s brows raised and he stuck out his bottom lip as he nodded, impressed.

              “Nice, well I’m thinking this is my year—“Winn started, but then they were interrupted by Phil’s cow bell. He was clanging on it for attention, and all the boys stopped their whispered conversations and looked back up to the front.

              “I can see we are losing some of you in the back,” Carol said to the newly attentive crowd, and Mon-El felt his stomach drop in guilt. He should have been paying attention. But surely they’d forgive him. He was making friends. That was the whole point of this. “I guess you’re all ready for your week one bunk assignments!” She added excitedly, and the group began to cheer with genuine enthusiasm. “Boys are on the east hill this year, right up there—NOT YET!“ She warned, pointing up at the hill, and all the boys lurched to run and then stopped, like they were false starting in a race at the Olympics in— _track and field!_ Mon-El wanted to slap his forehead, he couldn’t believe he’d forgotten.

              “You ready?” Winn asked from beside him, and Mon-El turned to him and nodded.

              “Don’t worry man, I’ve got your back.” Mon-El answered with a smile, which Winn returned widely.

              “You do, don’t you?” He asked, a little incredulous like he found the thought crazy. Mon-El decided in that moment he’d make sure Winn didn’t find it so crazy by the end of the summer. But then he remembered-- _Week!_ He was only supposed to be here a week. Why was he already thinking of camp like it was going to last all summer? He had only committed to a week! That was still the plan.

              Finally, Carol spoke. She had been drawing it out for dramatic effect and the crowd was now groaning with impatience and Phil was laughing it up, enjoying their pain. “Okay, okay!” She laughed. “Boys with last names A-L, you’re in Arrowhead. M and on, you’re in Rushing River. Now rememb—“ But she couldn’t finish. The guys collectively cheered and started running off in the direction Carol had pointed. It all happened so fast, Mon-El wasn’t ready. He stood there, confused, and Carol continued. She was laughing and shrugging to the remaining girls. “Boys, right?” She asked, and they all laughed, and just before he realized he needed to get moving, Kara turned and saw him and _those eyes_ locked on to his. Blue. Bright. Consuming. They shot an electric bolt to his heart and, embarrassingly, other places too. He would have remained frozen if not for Winn tugging on his arm.

              “ _Come-on, man!”_ He urged, and Mon-El snapped back from whatever kind of dream state he seemed to exist in when he was looking at her. It was like time froze and everything else turned blurry. But Winn had his attention again. Right. The cabin! He gave her a small smile before allowing himself to be pulled into action.

              “I’ve got this!” Mon-El assured him, grabbing his bag up, just like Winn had done. But then he paused. “Uh, where am I going?” Mon-El asked, jogging slowly beside Winn who was running at his full speed.

              “We’re together! In Rushing River. On—“ He panted. “The hill.” He croaked, grabbing at his side and slowing down. “Hurry!” He squeaked, and Mon-El laughed and looked at the boys in the distance. He could blast past them in a blink of an eye. He wondered how fast he could go, without being suspicious. He figured he should only go just fast enough to beat them, no more. So he began running, and he hoped he wasn’t too quick, because he could feel her eyes on him as he went. He wondered, as he ran, where the girls’ cabins would be. He hoped they weren’t going to be too far. Because he wouldn’t hate knowing he was sleeping close to _her._

              He closed on the laughing, rowdy pack quickly, and he could see the tall boy from the popular group was leading them. They were cresting the top of the hill, and Mon-El could see the brown wooden cabins in the distance. He’d explored them before, in the winter when there had been snow on the ground, when he was new to the Matthew’s house, but they looked different now. The grass had been newly cut and new gravel was filling the pathways. The little cabin porches each had a potted plant and something new, hanging on the porch-post.

              Mon-El focused his vision and saw that the little sign clearly read ‘Rushing River’ and a little picture of a wave beside it, and he felt a sigh of relief. He hadn’t, honestly, known what was meant by ‘Rushing River’ on the hill. He was glad to see he’d be sleeping on dry land, because he’d been picturing something a little… wetter. He ran a little faster, passing the tall boy, who looked at him with shock as he did. Behind them, someone shouted “The new guy’s passing you, Jimmy!” along with a chorus of cheers and jeers, and he heard the boy grunt with effort as he attempted to run faster, so Mon-El put on just a little more speed. He of course wasn’t out of breath or sweating, or uncomfortable in the least as he arrived on the porch, well ahead of everyone else, jogging the last few steps and grabbing the screen door.

              As he opened up the door, he could already tell what Winn meant. The room was hot and humid and, he supposed the word was _rustic_. Sturdy wooden bunk-beds were built into the room along the wall on the right, and there was an interior door on the left. The walls had been covered top to bottom in names and camper graffiti. Most of the bunks were at the back of the room, and Mon-El knew instantly he’d never last more than a week here if he had to sleep back there. He’d have to climb past a room full of teenagers every time he needed to use the bathroom or just get some air. There was being sociable, and then there was _this._ Talk about being thrown right into the fire.

              He was extremely grateful for Winn urging him to beat the pack when he turned and saw a single, miraculous bunk right there against the front of the cabin. It was right between the cabin’s only front window, and the door. It was perfect. Hearing the crowd of boys descending on the cabin, Mon-El knew he had to act fast, and he spotted the name tags just in time. All the boys’ names were printed onto cards that seemed to fit into slots at the ends of the beds. Mon-El quickly grabbed the ‘Mike’ and ‘Winn’ cards and rushed to his perfect bunk. The screen door burst open just as Winn’s card dropped into the slot and in rushed the boy whose name Mon-El thought was Jimmy, and a handful of other boys, out of breath and seemingly ready to collapse. They swarmed on the name cards immediately and spread out through the small cabin.

              Mon-El sighed in relief, flopping down onto the bottom bunk, waiting for Winn, when suddenly the light from the single hanging bulb was blocked and he was thrown into shade. He looked up, and then up, and up, and saw that Jimmy, the boy from before was standing right in front of him. “Hey, man.” He said, his deep voice resonating. His tone was friendly enough, but Mon-El knew tone. Probably better than anyone else around here. On Daxam, tone was everything. He understood aggression, and power-plays more than most. And it didn’t scare him. This was a power play, he could hear it in his voice. He could see it coming a mile away.

              With this knowledge, Mon-El put a polite but smug smile on his face and held Jimmy’s gaze for a few moments before responding. “Hey, I’m Mike.” He said, his own tone carefully friendly. On the surface. He was already very wary around this guy. Call it a gut instinct.

              His intent seemed to work, Jimmy was caught off guard a little by Mon-El’s confidence. And he didn’t seem to like being caught off guard. For a second, the friendly smile faltered and his brows knitted a little. “Mike.” He repeated, holding out his hand for Mon-El to slap. Once Mon-El had obliged (carefully), Jimmy continued. “You’re new around here, right? I didn’t see you at school.” He said, and Mon-El shrugged a little.

              “Home schooled.” He replied, and his lack of elaboration seemed to once again catch Jimmy off guard.

              “Yeah, cool, cool.” He said, his smile bright with big blindingly white teeth as he nodded a little. “So you’re new man, and you probably don’t know…” He continued, and Mon-El’s smile turned dark as he did. Here it came. “But that’s always my bunk.” Jimmy added, and Mon-El stopped himself from laughing in this—what did they call these guys on Earth again?—jock! He stopped himself from laughing in that jock’s face.

              “Sorry, I didn’t see your name on it, I thought it was a foot race for beds?” Mon-El replied innocently, sitting up straighter, leaning forward. He tried to keep his expression neutral if not contrite.

              “Yeah, and you were insanely fast.” Jimmy responded, mildly put-off. “But well, see, Winn, he normally likes sleeping in the back. And every year, this is my spot. You feel that, right man? That’s my _spot_. I’m sure you understand.” Jimmy added, and he seemed to be struggling to keep the friendly façade going. _Poor Jimmy._ Mon-El thought. He had no idea how good at this game Mon-El was. That’s all there was to play, back on Daxam. Passive aggressive power plays started at birth.

              “Oh, geez, I wish I could, Jimmy.” He started, and he saw a flash of frustration on Jimmy’s face.

              “I’m going by James now, actually.” He interrupted, and Mon-El smiled.

              “Your bunk tag said Jimmy.” He replied and tried not to widen his smile triumphantly as anger finally showed plainly on his new bunk-mate’s face. Mon-El felt only a tiny pang of regret. He was supposed to be here to make friends, he shouldn’t be starting with all this aggressive shit already. But he’d already made friends. Their names were Winn and Kara. And he knew the second this Jimmy guy lied and said Winn liked the back, that he wasn’t a friend. Mon-El had started to officially dislike him from that instant on. And he just plain wasn’t going to let him take this bunk from him. Winn wanted this bunk, and Mon-El wanted to get it for him.

              “Yeah, I know. But I prefer James.” He replied, and Mon-El stuck out his bottom lip and raised his brow as though he was taking in the information.

              “Good to know, J—“ And he paused for just a beat, and he was _so_ tempted to finish with ‘immy’, but he restrained himself. For now. “—ames.” He added, and he saw a look of suspicion cross Jimmy’s face. At just that moment, Winn finally came through the door. He was a panting, wheezing, sweating mess. The second he got there, he slumped against the cabin wall and took a deep draw from his inhaler.

              “I—“ He started, his chest heaving. “—need to work on cardio.” He finished quickly, before panting some more. Mon-El found his own smile turn genuine at his new friend’s presence. Winn was holding out his finger right now, asking for a minute, his other hand braced on his knee and his head down as he tried to catch his breath. When he was finally done, he looked up and saw Mon-El on the bunk at the front of the cabin. Then his eyes trailed to see their names at the end and his smile brightened. “Hey, you made it!” He said excitedly before noticing Jimmy and his smile faded.

              “Winn! Buddy!” Jimmy said, walking over and slapping him on the back. Winn seemed to freeze under the contact, clearly uncomfortable. Mon-El had seen the same expression Winn now wore on an Elhorn during hunting season. Just pure, unfiltered apprehension. That wasn’t a typical greeting. They weren’t friends.

              “Heyyyyyy…” Winn replied, awkwardly. His body seemed to be recoiling from Jimmy’s, but he was held in place by a “friendly” arm draped over his shoulder.

              “So I was just telling—sorry, what’s your name again?” Jimmy asked and Mon-El snorted a laugh at the rookie-level power play and shot his eyes over to where his name was printed in big block letters right in front of Jimmy’s face. Jimmy followed his gaze and smirked. “Oh yeah, Mike, sorry.” He added, disingenuous. “Well I was just telling Mike, here, about how you usually like to sleep at the back, and how this is my bunk.”

              Jimmy practically oozed dominance, as he used every drop of influence he had to make Winn buckle to his demands and do as he said. Mon-El could see Winn quaking under the pressure and shot him a sharp look. _Don’t you dare, Winn!_ Mon-El willed him to hear his thoughts. _I’ve got this asshole, don’t you dare!_

              Winn looked like a child next to Jimmy’s hulking presence, and Mon-El started to worry, but then he felt a swell of pride in his heart and chest as he saw Winn nod to him just a little and stand up a little straighter. He’d inspired him to fight back! In that moment, Mon-El wondered whether or not they could maybe actually help each other, this summer. That maybe Mon-El had something to offer this friendship after all. He hadn’t thought that he had anything of any use to give to a friend, but maybe he could help Winn build some confidence. And it started right here.

              “Well, actually, I’d kind of like to change it up this year.” Winn replied, stepping away from Jimmy and towards Mon-El. “And Mike did get here first. Fair is fair, right?” And Jimmy’s smile turned icy cold. But he didn’t drop it, he just nodded.

              “Yeah man. Fair is fair.” He responded. And everyone in the room felt the tension in his words. Actually the entire room was quiet, it seemed that most of the guys had turned and were watching the interaction. Jimmy seemed to notice that as he turned around too, and in a sudden burst of anger, he turned on a boy in the next bunk closest to the door. “Emery! Get out of that bunk.” He demanded, and the boy hopped up to obey, moving to what was arguably the worst spot in the cabin without complaint. Mon-El could even see the spider webs in the top corner from here. That could have been Winn. He was happy it wasn’t.

              After a moment or two, conversation resumed in the room. The other guys started moving around, talking, unpacking, and Winn turned to Mon-El, his expression grateful and very excited. With his back to Jimmy, his mouthed “Did you see that?” Rolling his eyes back, indicating towards the taller boy. And Mon-El laughed and nodded.

              “You were awesome.” He replied, and Winn seemed to glow under the praise.

              “No, _you_ were awesome!” Winn said enthusiastically. “No _way_ I thought you’d make it here first!” He added, and Mon-El smirked and shrugged.

              “Like you said, I do track.” Mon-El replied, nonchalant though beaming on the inside that he had remembered what that word meant.

              “You must be, like, state champ.” Winn said, impressed, and groaned as he hoisted his bag up onto the top bunk. For a minute, he disappeared above while Mon-El stretched out, relaxing, setting up his bed, before his head suddenly appeared, hanging upside down beside him. “Hey, Mike?” He asked, almost tentatively.

              “Yeah?” Mon-El replied back in question.

              “I just wanted to say thanks.” He added, shyly, and Mon-El felt his heart swell just a little. He wasn’t used to being thanked. And Winn seemed so genuine, with no ulterior motives. It just felt… it just felt good. There was no other way to put it. This was all new for Mon-El, and incredibly overwhelming, but with his new friend camped above him, in the same spot the jerk Jimmy wanted for his own, he couldn’t help but feel just a moment’s contentedness.

              “All I did was run fast.” Mon-El replied, and Winn laughed, his face turning bright red as the blood rushed to it.

              “I don’t know if you realize how fast, dude! Like, who do you think would win in a race, you or, like, a speeding train?” He asked, and Mon-El froze for a second, wondering if he’d been too out of the ordinary. But it seemed like the question was meant rhetorically, because thankfully Winn retreated to the top bunk without waiting for a reply. A minute later, Mon-El felt his heart rate slow down enough that he felt he could calmly respond with sarcasm. His usual go-to.

              “Depends… what kind of train?” He asked, and heard Winn’s snort of laughter from above.

              For the next few minutes, they were companionably quiet. It seemed that all the other guys knew each other, and they were busy with something in the corner. Mon-El read the graffiti carved into the bunk and looked around the room as he stretched out, his hands folded behind his head, as he waited for the time to pass. Before long, they could hear the cow-bell in the distance. They were being called down to the tar-mac for lunch. He felt a small thrill at the thought of seeing Kara there, and he tried not to rush Winn or seem too eager as he stood up, ready to go.

              As he waited for Winn to get collected and descend from his bunk, Jimmy was climbing down from his next to them as well. When he got to the ground, he stood up, tall, beside Mon-El and puffed his chest subtly before leaning casually against the bed beside him. He stared down Mon-El, who stared right back, waiting for Jimmy to speak.

              “So, Mike.” He finally started, and Mon-El smiled up at him.

              “Yeah, _James_?” He asked in reply. Again, Jimmy seemed to falter a little with Mon-El’s lack of fear, but he pressed on.

              “Was that Kara Danvers I saw you talking to, earlier?” He asked, and Mon-El felt his smile turn smug as he saw the jealousy lighting a fire behind James’ eyes.

              “Yeah.” Mon-El replied, directly, no bullshit. “Yeah, it was.” He repeated, and Jimmy said nothing in return. He appeared to seethe a little, though he was trying his hardest to hide it. They stood there, staring each other down for far too long, neither one wanting to be the first to break the stare and speak before the clang of the cowbell rang out in the distance once more, and the moment passed. Mon-El stepped right past James, toward the door, and held it open for his friend. “You coming, Winn?” He asked, and Winn practically squeaked as he jumped to action, hurrying past James and out the open door.

              As they walked down towards the mess hall and tarmac, Mon-El felt his smile spread freely and easily over his face and he couldn’t believe how genuine it was. He couldn’t believe it, but… he thought that possibly, just _maybe_ … he might actually enjoy camp. So far he’d met friends, experienced typical teenage drama, which he now realized he had been starved for, these past six months. And as he spotted the shock of blonde in the distance and felt that now-familiar flop and flutter in his stomach, he knew he was right. He might end up enjoying this after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo? Should I keep going? Thanks again for reading and being so patient for me to update! But to you guys that left me comments and encouraged me to keep going, that's why I'm writing again so thanks so much for the motivation! <3 I'm sorry for the lack of Karamel, but they'll be in the next chapter so don't worry :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their victory, Mon-El and Winn head down to get lunch in the Mess-Hall with Kara and her friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I didn't expect to post so quickly! Or on a Friday night! lol I hope you guys are out there ;) Here is another chapter of purely campy fluffy fun and I hope you really enjoy it!!!
> 
> ps. for some reason I can't figure out sometimes my paragraphs indent and sometimes they don't. it's something to do with the copy/pasting, but I hope it isn't too bad lol

 

              Mon-El and Winn walked down the hill and across the field, and the closer they got to the mess-hall, the more Mon-El’s stomach started fluttering nervously. He’d never felt anything like it, it was mildly alarming, but also thrilling. He was still reveling in his victory over Jimmy, and how Winn had stood up to him, too. That had been the best part, the look on Jimmy’s face when Winn said no to him. Winn couldn’t stop talking about it, the entire way down.

              “His face! And the _breeze_ , oh my God, man, there was a _breeze_ on my _bed_.” He said, as they drew close, and Mon-El chuckled.

              “I guess the spider bed doesn’t get much air?” He asked and Winn groaned.

              “Nope, it’s the worst. Thanks again, man. You really saved me.” He replied.

              “Poor Emery.” Mon-El said, the thought popping into his head.

              “Yeah, that was a real dick move by Jimmy—sorry, _James_ —“ Winn said the name pretentiously, in a sophisticated tone, and Mon-El laughed. “You know, he’s not usually such a... Ok, he’s always been a bit of a dick, but he’s usually more subtle about it. He likes everyone to think of him as a nice guy. You must have really gotten under his skin.” Winn said, and Mon-El’s smile turned dark with satisfaction. Good. He liked being under his skin.

              “I guess he’s just a sore loser.”

              “That’s probably the first time he’s lost anything in his entire life!” Winn agreed, and Mon-El felt his satisfaction grow, and for some reason his mind flicked to Kara, and Jimmy confronting him about speaking with her.

              Mon-El wanted to ask Winn more questions, about Jimmy, about Kara, about camp life in general, but they’d finally arrived at the tarmac. Carol was standing there with a few kids, as others made their way into the mess-hall for lunch. He waved at her and she smiled back at him, and gave him a wink, but didn’t come over to speak to him. He was silently relieved, but also surprised. He knew that every ounce of Carol’s being was probably scream to come over and helicopter over him and make sure he was okay, but she was giving him space, like he’d requested, and it was a good thing. Because he needed to do this on his own. And didn’t want anything to get between him and the mess-hall right now. He was already restraining himself from sprinting the rest of the way. Winn was already walking agonizingly slow, he didn’t want any more delays.

              “I hope Kara saved us a seat.” Winn said, as they finally arrived at the door. “I’m _starving_.” He added, and Mon-El felt his heartrate speed up as he watched Winn’s hand close around the door handle, his wrist flexing to pull it open.

              “Do you think she will?” He asked, nervously, though he hoped Winn couldn’t notice.

              “Well,” Winn groaned as he spoke, straining as he opened the heavy door and holding it for Mon-El. Before entering, he looked at him and continued. “Kara is basically the most thoughtful person I know, so I’m assuming yes.” And Mon-El felt all the butterflies in his stomach erupt at the words. Of course she was. That was his first impression of her, but it was wonderful to hear that someone who knew her as well as Winn felt that way. And then they were through and into the room.

Winn and Mon-El stood there for a moment, looking for Kara in the crowd of similar-looking girls that were already wearing identical blue ‘Staff’ t-shirts, but Mon-El knew instantly she wasn’t there. If she was, he would have seen her immediately. How could you miss that long blonde hair and inner light that seemed to glow from within her? She would have lit up everyone around her like a Christmas tree.

Luckily, though, Mon-El only had to feel his heart sink in disappointment for a second or two before they heard their names being called. “Winn! Mike!” _It was her!_ She called them again, and they had to walk into the room and look around the corner to find her. Mon-El didn’t know how she knew they’d gotten there, he supposed there must have been a window, or something, but he didn’t care. Because at the sight of her, he felt like the whole room went quiet and his heart started racing. And suddenly it was like he had forgotten how to walk. He stood, slightly dazed as he looked at her, smiling back at him. Her eyes were bright and shiny, and her cheeks were filling with a pink colour as she held his gaze.

Mon-El had never experienced anything like this before in his life. And it wasn’t like he was a total novice with girls. What was it about this one? He’d only just met her, it didn’t make any sense. He probably would have stayed there, stuck in place, gazing at her, if Winn hadn’t yanked his arm to get him into motion. “See? I told you she’d save us a seat.” Winn said, and Mon-El was extremely grateful for his friend helping prevent him from acting like a total creep. He was going to have to keep notes on how often Winn was saving him so he could properly express his gratitude at some point. The bunk wasn’t enough.

When they arrived at the table, Kara jumped up to give Winn a hug. “Winnie!” She cried, and Mon-El heard him grumbling, his cheeks turning a crimson, and Mon-El tried not to laugh.

“Karraaaaa!” He whined, “I thought we were over that.” He added, and she snorted in mirth, slapping him on the arm.

“I’m sorry, I can’t help myself! It’s the first day at camp and I’m _nostalgic._ ” She explained, and Winn begrudgingly smiled. But then the other girls at the table were getting up to go greet Winn, and he started to do the rounds, and Kara was left standing there, next to Mon-El.

She turned to him, and her smile was blinding. “Hey Mike!” She said brightly, though he thought he noticed a touch of shyness as the pink rose in her cheeks. He had been focused on that and was not at all prepared when her arms started opening, and as her body closed on his, Mon-El thought he might black out. She was leaning in to hug him, and it was his pulse was pounding in his ears and his whole body was glowing, and it felt like he might just float away as he felt her squeeze him once, tight, her chest pushing into his, her hot breath on his neck just for an instant. It was the most wonderful thing to happen, possibly in his entire life.

Or, it was. Until he realized he had been in so much shock, he hadn’t reacted at all. He’d been stiff as a board, and to Kara, and anyone watching, that was probably the most awkward hug of all time. He hadn’t reciprocated at all, he didn’t have the presence of mind, it seemed. It all happened so fast! He wanted to crawl into a hole and die, right there. Kara probably thought he hated her. What the _hell_ was happening to him? He’d never been awkward around girls. If anything, he was the opposite. But there was something about this girl, it just caught him off guard.

“Uhh, hey, Kara.” He said, and he felt like the room temperature had increased about a hundred degrees. He was so embarrassed, he wanted nothing more than to disappear, but luckily Kara was too sweet to let the awkward feeling linger. Instead of being upset with his awkwardness, or put off by his standoffishness, she sat back down at the table, looked down at the seat beside her, and then back up at him in encouragement. When he stood motionless for a little too long, she patted the seat and smiled once again.

He felt the familiar flutter as he sat down next to her, not believing his luck. He’d been hoping just to sit _near_ her, he hadn’t for a second thought he’d be right _next_ to her. “Thanks.” He said, smiling down at the table before turning his face and glimpsing at her. She seemed to be studying him, and he felt his own cheeks blush under her gaze.

“So, it seems like you and Winn are friends, now!” She finally said, and he was relieved to have something to focus on other than her proximity and the effect it was having on him.

“Yeah, he’s awesome, I’d be lost here without him.” Mon-El answered, honestly. He _would_ be lost without Winn. It was crazy to think they’d met just a couple hours ago. He felt like he’d known him much longer.

“He’s the best.” Kara agreed, smiling over at Winn, who appeared to be having a rousing argument with a thin girl with short cropped dark hair. Then she turned back to Mon-El, and it looked like she was trying to hold back when she blurted out “I saw you running, before. For Winn. You were _really_ fast.” She was looking at him with a mixture of admiration and curiosity, and he felt himself redden even more as he shrugged, like it was nothing.

“Not that fast.” He replied, and almost laughed at the animation on her face at his words. She was so… expressive. Every little thought she seemed to have, crossed her face. Her joy and love for life was plain for all to see. At this moment, that adorable wrinkle in her forehead and pout was back, and Mon-El had to look away for a second, to stop himself from wanting to kiss that full bottom lip. It was a crazy impulse, to want to kiss a practical stranger. And it probably wouldn’t go over well. Again, he wondered what was happening to him. He was usually so cool, so suave…

“Uhhhh, you were _ridiculously_ fast.” She corrected him, and he felt his heart lurch. Ridiculous? Did it look wrong? Did it look… not-human? He began to panic just a little, but then she continued. “It was _so_ impressive. Jimmy and the guys were halfway up the hill before you even started moving.” And, to his relief, he got the impression he was in the clear, and he even felt himself glow once again, under her praise. Though hearing her say the word _Jimmy_ was like being doused in cold water.

“Impressive?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow and smirking, deciding to move on from the unpleasant thought and focus on the nice one. She found him impressive. _Impressive._ That definitely wasn’t an unpleasant thought. He watched as she threw her head back and laughed, before nudging him on the arm.

“Very impressive.” She repeated, giggling, and she placed her hand on his bicep to playfully shove him. Luckily this time, he remembered to ‘react’ to her touch, and he let his body move with the force of her, just a little, thrilling at the contact of her skin on his. He thought he’d nailed it, actually, but just like the last time, her eyes immediately shot to his. She squinted, just a little, perhaps noticing that it was a different reaction than earlier, before her cheeks started pulling with the smile that formed on her beautiful pink lips and that traveled quickly to her eyes. They crinkled a little at the corners as she smiled at him. Just beautiful.

“Well, I run track.” He finally said, shrugging once again like it was no big deal. Kara laughed at that, before leaning in and whispering.

“But… did you beat him?” She asked, her smile turned slightly evil and even more adorable as she waited for an answer. And he knew immediately who she was talking about. Jimmy. Mon-El smirked.

“Yeah.” He answered, and he tried to make it nonchalant but Kara’s eyes went wide and she laughed out loud.

“He must have _hated_ that!” She practically shouted between laughing fits. “Alex! Maggie! Guess who got beat in the bunk race this year.” She called out, and the girl with short hair who Winn was talking to looked over, as well as a girl with long dark hair who was covering up her blue t-shirt with a green army jacket with patches down the arm.

“Nooooo…” The girl with Winn said, and his eyes lit up beside her.

“Yes! Oh _man_ you guys should have seen it!” Winn added, heading over to the free seat beside Mon-El. “It was incredible. And we got the bunk by the door!” He gushed, sitting down and draping an arm around Mon-El’s shoulder. “My man Mike has been here, what, five minutes? And he’s already a legend.” Winn proclaimed, and Mon-El laughed, smirking a little, not wanting to take up too much attention but enjoying the praise.

“Did Jimmy have a temper tantrum?” The girl in the army jacket asked.

Winn let out a loud ‘Hah!’ before answering, “It’s _James_ now, by the way.” He started, and it seemed everyone at the table rolled their eyes. “And you could say he wasn’t very pleased.” He added.

“Understatement of the year, I bet.” The short haired girl said, returning to her seat next to the other. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him lose anything, ever.” She added, and there were head nods all around the small round table. “I’m Alex, by the way. And this is Maggie.” She gestured at the girl in the jacket beside her, who gave a small wave hello.

“I’m—“ Mon-El started, but then Kara cut in.

“This is Mike!” She blurted, excitedly, but then she froze, her eyes wide and face slack for a second, and her eyes darted to Alex in what looked like either fear, or embarrassment, or both. Mon-El was confused as Alex rolled her eyes, and Kara seemed to stammer, trying to get back on track. “Uhhh, you know, he’s Carol and Phil’s foster son.” She got out awkwardly, and her eyes darted to his and it was the first time he’d seen them look worried. “Sorry.” She said, her smile apologetic.

“Don’t mind my sister, she has a habit of being _overenthusiastic._ ” Alex said, and Maggie laughed beside her, looking down at her hands as she played with the sleeve of her jacket looking uninterested, but obviously still listening.

“Sister?” Mon-El asked, looking back and forth between them. They didn’t look anything alike, not that Alex wasn’t pretty as well. But Alex’s features were sharp, her hair and eyes dark, her neck longer. And then he remembered, Kara was adopted, too.

“Yeah, Alex is—was!—my foster sister.” Kara answered, her bright and cheerful demeanor returned. And then Alex leaned forward, looking very intimidating.

“Yeah, and I’m _very_ protective, so don’t get any ideas, Mike!” She threatened, her tone direct and firm and extremely frightening. Mon-El wondered if all the colour had washed out of his skin, and he felt his eyes widen in panic, as everyone at the table looked at him. What did she mean? Did she think—could she tell how much he liked Kara?

“I—uhh, I—“ He struggled to respond, and then Alex burst out laughing, collapsing onto the table and slapping it. Mon-El relaxed a little as he saw everyone laugh. Maggie smirked, looking up at him.

“She’s just messing with you.” She said, and he felt himself almost sag with relief.

“Alex!” Kara admonished, wrinkling her nose at her adorably, and Mon-El had to look away. But then he felt her soft warm touch on his forearm and he turned back, and Kara was looking at apologetically, annoyed, but still somehow happy and joyful. He didn’t know how she did it. “Don’t mind her.” She said to him, looking him straight in the eye, and her hand lingered and Mon-El felt his heart beating in his throat as the warmth leeched into his skin and ran up his arm and began to spread throughout his body.

And then Winn cut in, oblivious to the moment they seemed to be having. “Yeah, Alex isn’t half bad, when she isn’t being completely terrifying.” He added, and Kara withdrew her hand and laughed. Alex put her own hands over her heart and was blinking at Winn with doe eyes.

“Awwww, Winn, you think I’m terrifying? That’s so sweet!” She replied, and Winn rolled his eyes and laughed, but didn’t have a chance to respond, because Carol and Phil had entered and were calling for everyone’s attention.

“All right guys, settle down! You’ll all get to eat, but just a few housekeeping points before we eat our first meal together.” Carol spoke loudly, her voice carrying to the corners of the room. Slowly all the murmurs at the tables died down, and everyone was quiet.

“First off,” Phil stepped in. “I’m sure we all want to eat in an ant and fly-free mess-hall, so I want to remind everyone that cleanliness starts with you!” He started, though he had to pause when someone in the crowd interrupted and called out ‘I thought it started with C!’, and everyone broke out in laughter. When that died down, Phil laughed himself before continuing. “Did that sound like Ashley volunteering for today’s clean-up duty to the rest of you too?” Several people called out agreeance and Phil then continued on with the items on the list.

It was mostly about cleaning schedules and responsibilities. Phil was a bit of a neat-freak, Mon-El had learned that at home. By the end of his list, he was definitely losing the attention of the crowd. Seeing that, Carol stepped forward and called out “Who’s hungry!?” The room all cheered, and she held up her index finger, indicating for them to wait. “Good! Well, you’ll get to eat in just a minute. But first I just want to let you know how the rest of today is going to go. First up, we have a lunch game which I’ll explain in a second. And I want you guys thinking up more lunch games we can play! We’re going to need a whole bunch more for when the campers are here.” She said, and Mon-El wondered what she meant, though he supposed he’d learn in time.

“This afternoon we are going to split up into boys and girls groups.” She paused to wait for the chorus of boos to end, and Mon-El had to admit that he felt like joining in. “Alright, get it all out, but I think you’ll all survive for a few hours. So after lunch the girls will be down at the lake for your swim test, and boys you’ll be on the ropes course getting certified, and then we’ll switch.” She continued. “Then we’ll have some free time before dinner, and after dinner we’ll do a campfire for everyone, so save room for marshmallows!” Carol added, and at the thought of the campfire, Mon-El couldn’t help but flick his eyes towards Kara, and he felt his breath halt as he saw her eyes already on him. She smiled shyly as they made contact, and then they both looked away and once again Mon-El felt his heart speed up and adrenaline flow through his body. Her gaze was electric. It lit up his entire body every time he saw those blue eyes look into his.

“Okay, now for today’s lunch game! Some of you old faces will know this one. But every day we have a competition or silly game at lunch, and you _don’t_ want to break the rules! There _will_ be consequences.” And she glared around the room to some ‘ooooohs’ from the crowd, and a spattering of laughter. “Today you’ll be eating lunch as usual, except for one very important detail. You won’t be feeding yourselves.” She said, and Mon-El was confused but all around him people were groaning and laughing and looking around embarrassedly. “Yessss, it’s everyone’s favourite lunch game, back again! Such a classic.” Carol said with a laugh. “Everyone look to your left!” She added, and Mon-El looked towards Kara and tried to ignore the flutter in his stomach. “You will be helping this person eat their lunch!” She said, and Mon-El’s eyes widened in understanding.

“Now look to your right, and they will be helping you.” Mon-El turned to Winn, who shrugged at him and smiled. “And remember, at no time should you use your own hands to feed yourself!” She added, and the room around her started bustling.

“You _don’t_ want to break the rules on this one, dude. The losers of the first lunch game end up getting dunked in the lake at the campfire. It happens every year, it’s hilarious.” Winn added, and Mon-El nodded, still trying to process what was happening. He was going to have to… his stomach was doing cartwheels.

“Got it.” Mon-El answered, trying to be cool about it and wondering if he succeeded. But all cool was lost when he turned back to see Kara leaning around the round table to tuck a napkin into the neck of Alex’s shirt, giggling as she did it. Was he—should he tuck in Kara’s napkin for her? But that was too much, he couldn’t seem to move his arms to do anything anyways, and Winn wasn’t doing the same for him, so he hoped that was okay. A minute later, the food was delivered to the table on big platters. There were about a dozen or more halves of grilled cheese and a big bowl of salad.

At first everyone hesitated, but soon the room around them burst back into conversation, the squealing of chairs being slid around, the clanging of utensils on plates. Mon-El was staring at his own plate, unsure of what to do, when Winn took it without asking and started loading it with salad and halves of grilled cheese. When he put the plate down and Mon-El was still frozen, Winn motioned with his eyes to Kara and her empty plate and raised his eyebrows.

              “Just a warning, Kara _loves_ to eat. You wouldn’t like her when she’s hungry. Watch your fingers.” He said, teasing and Kara leaned over Mon-El to slap Winn’s shoulder playfully, shocking him with her proximity as she did.

              “Winnifer!” She whined as she slapped him a second time, laughing, before pulling back. Her face came within inches of Mon-El’s as she returned to her seat. To a human eye, she would have passed too quickly to notice, to be able to make out anything but a blur. But for Mon-El, since he had begun to change and grow faster and stronger on Earth, moments seemed to stretch into what felt like minutes, if he wanted them to. He supposed it was his speed, making it feel like time had slowed. But he savoured the moment as she passed by him, retreating to her seat. He felt the warmth of her body, could feel her t-shirt as it hung forward and brushed his arm. He looked down at her lips, just inches away, and then up at her eyes, and once again, there was a shock to his core. _She was looking back at him_. In an intelligent and cognisant way. Not in a glancing way, but like she was actually _looking_ at him. Like the moment was stretching on for her, as well.

              _But that was impossible._ The idea flustered Mon-El and then time seemed to speed up and she was back in her seat. When he looked at her, she was looking at him carefully, and he couldn’t make out what she was thinking by her expression. Not knowing what to do, he reached out and took her plate, looking at all the food and then back at her. “So, uh, how much do you want?” He asked, but before she got a chance to answer, Winn cut in from next to him.

              “Unless something’s changed… just keep loading until you can’t see any plate left.” He said, looking at Kara who laughed and shook her head.

              “Nope, nothing’s changed.” She answered, shrugging, and Mon-El smiled and started dumping a pile of salad on her plate before grabbing four halves of grilled cheese. Winn laughed before leaning over to take a bite of the grilled cheese Maggie was holding up for him to eat, and then turned back to Mon-El.

              “You’re going to be here all day, dude. Why do you think I didn’t sit next to her?” He teased, and Kara stuck her tongue out at him, which Winn returned. Then Winn looked down, grabbed the fork next to Mon-El’s plate and speared a big wad of lettuce and veggies, then looked back up at him with a smirk. “Hungry?” He asked, and Mon-El had to admit he was, but he hesitated, and Winn added, “Listen, don’t make this weird, man. There’s nothing wrong with one dude feeding another like he’s a little baby.” He said, and everyone around the table laughed, including Mon-El. So he nodded his head.

              “Yeah, hit me.” He said, and leaned forward.

              “Ok, open up, here comes the airplane!” Winn said, before making engine noises with his lips and flying the fork towards his mouth. Mon-El opened his mouth to laugh when Winn unceremoniously shoved the fork in and suddenly Mon-El’s mouth was extremely full of salad.

              “Fank Oo” Mon-El said through his full mouth, trying to close his lips around all the food and everyone was laughing. A minute later he had chewed and wiped his mouth and everyone was setting in to the game, and there was laughter and shouting from all over the mess-hall. ‘Adam cheated!’ Mon-El heard Jimmy shout from another table, and then a small argument as Adam disagreed. And then Mon-El realized he’d been keeping Kara waiting. “Sorry!” He said, turning towards her and catching her looking longingly at her food. She _did_ look hungry, but she smiled kindly nonetheless.

              “That’s ok! But, could you put some ketchup on my plate? I like to dip my grilled cheese.” She asked apologetically, before blushing and bowing her head just a little as Mon-El reached past her to grab the red bottle that was currently sitting in front of Alex. When he was back in his seat, he squirted the ketchup onto the plate and took a piece of sandwich and dipped it in. When it was ready, he looked back up at her and smiled.

              “Ready?” He asked, not knowing whether he himself was ready, but he was moving ahead nonetheless. She nodded her head enthusiastically and leaned forward before stopping and looking at him sternly.

              “You’re not going to make airplane noises are you?” She asked, and he chuckled.

              “I wasn’t planning on it, you want me to?” He asked, teasing and she shook her head.

              “No, I take my eating very seriously.” She answered, and both Mon-El and Alex beside Kara who must have overheard laughed.

              “Alright, well open up.” He said, moving the sandwich towards her face, but at the same time she leaned forward, and Mon-El thought he’s die of embarrassment as the ketchup-covered grilled cheese collided with the side of her mouth, making a bit of a mess. He wanted to disappear into oblivion the second it happened, but the good news was that Kara snorted laughter, her sense of humour mercifully good and Mon-El felt a little less like he wanted to cry.

              “Sorry!” He hissed, still horrified, and Kara shook him off.

              “It’s fine! There’s always casualties during ‘feed your friend’.” She laughed, reaching for her napkin and almost wiping her face clean before her eyes widened in panic. “Oops!” She said, before holding out the piece of paper towel for Mon-El. “Could you… do you mind?” She asked, and there was something sweet and vulnerable to her question that made Mon-El’s insides squirm, and the feeling only got worse as he slowly reached towards her face, towards her _lips_ , with the towel.

              “Shh-sure.” He stammered, pausing before reaching forward and wiping away the red sauce. He wanted to touch her skin with his fingers, and not the towel, but still he felt a thrill at the contact between them.

When he was done, he folded the napkin to a cleaner spot, and Kara asked “All clean?”, and she was, but he couldn’t help himself. It was wrong, but he just couldn’t himself.

“Just…” He said softly, almost a whisper, and he lifted his hand to wipe one more time, slowly. It tugged out her bottom lip just a little and the act, well, it _did_ things to him. He slowly pulled his hand back and smiled softly. “There.” He added, and Kara’s eyes were sparkly and deep as she looked at him.

“Thanks.” She said, and Mon-El bowed his head a little in embarrassment before looking back up at her with a little more confidence than he’d had before. He was suddenly feeling less confused about his feelings for Kara, and much, much more sure. Though he had no idea whether he was on _her_ radar at all. At the moment, it was still so new, he didn’t want to come on too strong or risk the rejection, so he just nodded and sat back, before turning to Winn and asking for another bite.

After that, the lunch went a lot smoother, and actually became a lot of fun. All the ice was officially broken after feeding one another, and Mon-El enjoyed watching the interactions between Kara, Winn, Maggie, and Alex. And he didn’t feel left out, either. Despite them all having a history going back years, they included Mon-El throughout the whole lunch, and by the end he was finding himself much more at ease, and feeling like he had actually made a new group of friends.

None of them broke the rules of the game, so it was with a sense of ease that they all got up, ready to go back to their respective cabins to prepare for the afternoon’s activities. On the way out, they heard James talking to Phil, negotiating, it seemed. “No, you saw wrong, I was just scratching my chin, I didn’t! Phil, _Phil_ , you know I’ve been coming here forever, I’d never break the lunch rules on the first day!” They all exchanged conspiratorial looks as they passed by and left him, still arguing, heading outside.

When they got to the end of the mess-hall deck, it was time for the boys to continue on straight and up the hill, while the girls had to walk down the path to the left, so the group split up.

“See ya!” Winn said to the girls, turning to head up the hill without any hesitation. Mon-El moved to follow him, but he hesitated. He couldn’t help himself. He had to look back. He had to have one last look, a glimpse of her to hold with him throughout the afternoon. He _had_ to. So he turned and saw the girls were already heading down the path… but Kara was turned back, too. She was looking towards Mon-El and Winn and falling behind the others. Mon-El felt the now-familiar flutter as she caught him off guard with her gaze, and she smiled when she saw him, and waved good bye.

“See you at the campfire, Mike!” She called and he beamed. “Don’t forget… s’mores!” She added, laughing and turning back to Alex and Maggie and jogging a few paces to catch up. Of course, he remembered. He could never forget, but he was glad she hadn’t either. S’mores by the fire, under the stars, with Kara. It sounded just about perfect right now. Whatever a s’more was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys had fun reading this and still enjoy it! I know the plot didn't move forward very much here but the scene was just really fun to write and I didn't want to rush it too much. I'd LOVE to know what you thought, I'm dying of curiosity :)
> 
> Thanks so much for encouraging me to write this! Your comments motivated me so much I wrote this chapter the day after posting the last one!
> 
> xoxox


	5. Starry Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions rise after lunch as Mon-El and Jimmy get competitive at the afternoon's activities. Later, the camp fire Mon-El has been waiting for all day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me so long to update! This chapter is WAY longer than I expected, but I really wanted to end it a certain way and it just kept getting longer! I hope you guys love it and it makes you think of summer love!

Back at the cabin, all the boys were changing into their own blue staff t-shirts before heading off towards the rope course. Phil and Carol must have picked out a large for Mon-El, which fit as he threw it over his head, but it was a little snug, pulling at the arms and chest. He’d been filling out a lot recently, gaining muscles without even trying. Mon-El was noticing slight changes even day-to-day, it was simultaneously awesome and annoying. He didn’t hate the muscles, but he was afraid that if he was noticing, so might other people.

He flexed in the cabin mirror, making sure he wasn’t going to rip the arms, not thinking anything of it. But of course, Jimmy chose that exact moment to return to the cabin, catching him in the act. Mon-El quickly dropped his arms and tried to turn around casually, hoping to hide the crimson blush that was running up his neck and cheeks. But Jimmy had seen, and he snorted in laughter as he grabbed his own XXL t-shirt off the front table. Mon-El wanted to punch the wall, he was so mad that he’d let Jimmy see that, that he’d given him that ammo against him. And he wasn’t wasting any time putting it to use.

“Not bad, Mike.” Jimmy said, his smirk evident both on his face and in his tone. Mon-El fumed, wishing he could take it back, or at least better his timing. As he did, James pulled his own shirt up and over his towering head, tossing the shirt onto his bunk and then just stood there shirtless, flexing, staring right at him. Mon-El had to stop himself from laughing, or from his jaw hanging open, or from breaking into applause. This was the most glorious display of alpha male passive-aggression that Mon-El had yet witnessed on Earth, and he found himself almost begrudgingly respecting the sheer confidence it took to pull it off. Mon-El thought to himself that this guy would have done great in the courts of Daxam. Though that wasn’t exactly a compliment.

For a few tense moments, Jimmy just stood there, clearly flexing his much larger muscles, staring right into Mon-El’s eyes. His body was tense and dominant, and sculpted like a greek statue. His dark skin was flawless and shiny as it pulled tightly over the bulky pectoral and shoulder muscles and his defined six pack which was really more of an eight pack. It seemed impossible that this was the body of a teenager, and he seemed to know it. His stare was challenging and dominant as he stood there, towering, waiting for Mon-El to step down. To acknowledge him as alpha. He clearly expected it, but it wasn’t going to happen, and Mon-El watched in amusement as the longer he took, the angrier Jimmy’s expression seemed to become.

Eventually, someone had to move. It was getting incredibly, horribly awkward. For everyone else, that was. The entire cabin had quieted, and were tensely observing the power-play going on before them. Mon-El, on the other hand, had moved on from being embarrassed and was currently having a blast as he realized his refusal to back down was causing Jimmy to crack. The taller boy was now holding back a grimace as he strained to keep his muscles tight and flexed, and a smile was creeping onto Mon-El’s face.

Finally, Mon-El decided on an action. He knew what Jimmy wanted him to do, he knew what Jimmy _expected_ him to do. But he wasn’t going to do that. Instead, Mon-El smiled widely, genuinely, and said “Thanks, Jimmy.” As friendly, and as brightly as he could, leaning forward and holding out his hand for Jimmy to slap. He saw the taller boy’s eyes flash in anger at the name, and Mon-El let his eyes go wide and he exaggerated an apologetic expression as he feigned remembrance, pulling back his hand un-slapped. “Oh! Sorry! I mean James. Sorry, it’s just,” He pointed at the sign on the bed, right next to him, and shrugged. “I saw it written here, and I—“

“No worries, man.” Jimmy responded, adopting a smile so big and white it was almost blinding. To anyone else, it probably even looked genuine, but Mon-El knew better. He also knew this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. But for now, the moment passed and they continued on as though things were great. What Jimmy didn’t realize was that he had one major flaw working against him when it came to a war of wills, and it was his desire for everyone to like him. Yes, he wanted people to _fear_ him, and defer to him, but also to _like_ him. Most bullies didn’t care about being liked. But Jimmy did. He had carefully built his persona as “nice guy” and he wouldn’t be very happy having his dark side exposed. And if Winn was to be believed, this was possibly the first time that anyone ever challenged him before, so he was likely a little off balance from being caught by surprise.

When the moment had passed and it was safe to turn around, Mon-El did, and he immediately caught Winn’s eyes, which were wide with amazement. His expression, terrified, impressed, relieved, incredulous, made Mon-El laugh out loud. As he watched, Winn puffed out his cheeks and exhaled in relief before mouthing the word “awkward” with raised eyebrows.

 

 

On the walk to the ropes course, Winn and Mon-El laughed about the situation together. “Dude, that was legendary. He was _flexing_ at you!” He exclaimed, doubling over in laughter, reaching out with one hand to brace on Mon-El’s shoulder for support as he did. The action caught Mon-El off guard and he winced at the sudden contact, reverting back to his defensive, jumpy ways, but he felt ashamed an instant later when he realized it was just Winn. That he was okay. That no one was trying to hurt him. No one could ever hurt him again. Not on Earth, at least.

Winn straightened, noticing the reaction, and he pulled his hand back, his smile gone and a look of worry in its place. “Sorry man, I didn’t mean to—“

“No!” Mon-El started in, he didn’t want Winn feeling bad, or like he wasn’t able to touch him, but he didn’t know how to explain. “I, I mean I’m sorry, you caught me off guard. That was totally fine. I just have… jumpy nerves.” Mon-El continued, and Winn seemed to relax. He nodded once, and his worried look turned sympathetic for a second. Mon-El thought he may have read between the lines, understanding a lot that was left unsaid, about his past life. Before the Matthews.

After a moment, to Mon-El’s relief, Winn’s smile returned, and the tension dissolved. “So…” Winn said, deciding to change the subject. “You and Kara.” He said the words casually. _Too_ casually.

“Me and Kara?” Mon-El repeated back in question. He didn’t know what he meant. “What about me and Kara, not that there’s a me and Kara, but if there was, what would you mean?” Mon-El stammered, and Winn laughed.

“Nothing! But, you like her, right?” Winn asked, and there was an edge to his tone. Mon-El wasn’t sure what it was, it wasn’t hostile, but suddenly Mon-El worried. Did Winn like her too? How could he not? _Why hadn’t he thought of that?_ His stomach flopped at the thought of getting in Winn’s way, upsetting his new friend. But then if flopped again at the thought of avoiding Kara.

“Uhhh, wha? I, nahhh, I—“ Mon-El struggled, and Winn snorted.

“So _that’s_ a yes.” He laughed, and Mon-El’s shoulders sank. He was caught.

“I mean, yeah, kind of. She’s pretty and funny and nice, of course I like her. But that’s not it, there’s something…” Mon-El paused, trying to put it into words. He still didn’t even understand the feeling himself, trying to describe it was just about impossible. “I mean, I barely know her. But there’s just… there’s something about her.”

Winn nodded, understanding. “She’s special.” He agreed, and despite the summer heat, Mon-El felt himself go cold hearing those words come from his friend.

“Winn, dude, if you like her, or you guys are a thing, I will back right off, man. Just tell me now.” He said, turning to look at him and willing the shorter boy to see how serious he was. He meant every word, even if he wasn’t happy about it. What was that expression on earth? It rhymed… Friends before hens? Yeah, that was it.

But to Mon-El’s relief, Winn’s eyes went wide before he barked out a laugh, and forgetting about the incident a moment ago, he reached out and playfully shoved Mon-El’s shoulder. Thankfully, Mon-El saw it coming and didn’t flinch this time. “Dude! Kara?? Noooooo…” Winn made a cross with his arms and then chopped his hands outward. “Noooo way. She’s like a sister. Sure, maybe I liked her when we were like 13, but she didn’t like me back, and I’m over it.”

Mon-El wanted to dance, he was so happy, but he was proud of the relative cool he was keeping as they neared the edge of the woods, where the ropes course was. Mon-El had been here many times, he loved the obstacles, though he’d never used ropes of course. What was a thirty foot fall to him, anyway? “So…” Mon-El continued, wanting to use this conversation topic as an excuse to get some more information. “Is Kara dating anyone?” He asked, making his tone as casual and politely interested as possible, though he had a feeling Winn saw right through him.

“No. She dated James for like, a hot second, last year. But I think they kissed like, once, and then Kara broke up with him.” It took Mon-El a second to realize he had stopped moving. Winn continued for a few steps before he noticed, then he turned around and came back.

“James?” Mon-El croaked. _Of course_ it was James. Why wouldn’t it be James?

“Don’t worry, man! James is _so_ last season.” Winn assured him.

“Last season?” Mon-El asked, confused.

“Last summer.” Winn corrected himself. “Kara hasn’t dated anyone since then. Jimmy didn’t used to be such a jerk, though I never really liked him. He had a huge growth spurt last year, and his ego grew with him.”

“But they were together.”

“Yeah but, it didn’t work out. Kara thought she liked him all summer, and then at the end of the season they got together, but he wasn’t what she’d built up in her head. I think she just liked the _idea_ of dating him. Then they got together and there was nothing there. And then he turned into a giant asshole. So she dodged a bullet there!”

“Yeah, I guess.” Mon-El said, not able to get the idea out of his head, but knowing he’d have to move on or look like a creepy stalker. Kara was Winn’s best friend, of course he’d let her know if Mon-El started acting like a total weirdo over her.

“Don’t worry dude, even when she was gaga over James, I never saw her look at him the way she’s been looking at you.” Winn said, taking Mon-El aback and once again causing him to pause in his steps.

“She was… looking at me?” He asked, shocked, thrilled, unsure. He knew _he_ was sure he felt a connection there, but he had no idea whether she felt anything similar. She could just be nice to new people. She could just be taking pity on him because he was a foster kid, like she would a stray puppy. It didn’t _mean_ anything. Or maybe it did?

“I’m going to get in trouble. I’m shutting up right now. Listen, she hasn’t told me anything, I don’t have any inside information, that was all just me seeing you guys interact, and not being blind. But I’d say you’ve got a good chance.” He said, like he was suddenly worried about getting caught between the two of them, and Mon-El realized he should back off. This wasn’t Winn’s problem. And if he didn’t push him too hard for information now, he’d probably be able to get some useful info later. For now, Mon-El wanted to reassure Winn that things weren’t about to get weird, or awkward for him.

“I’m not here to date, though. So don’t worry. I was just… curious. That’s all.” He said, and Winn smirked and nodded like he didn’t believe him.

“Kara isn’t looking to date either, she really just loves this place. But it’s summer camp… everyone gets paired up by the end of it. It’s, like, a law of nature, or something.” Winn said, shrugging, and Mon-El felt his spirits rise tremendously. But then he got curious.

“So have you ever, you know…” He asked, and Winn let out another barking laugh before nodding sheepishly.

“There was one girl, last year. It was the last day of camp last year, and then I had to leave to go back home.” He said, and Mon-El waggled his eyebrows at him, making him laugh before continuing. “She’s really smart, we’ve worked on some programs together, we built a rudimentary functioning AI together on Skype over a weekend. It was, maybe, the hottest thing I’ve ever done with a girl.” Mon-El laughed, and slapped Winn (carefully) on the back.

“She sounds perfect for you!” Mon-El enthused, both happy for his friend, but also relieved he had another love interest. Not Kara. That was shitty and selfish, but the feeling burned bright in his chest and he couldn’t deny its truth. Just pure relief. Because, if he had to choose, he’d have to choose Winn. He was just so glad he didn’t have to.

“Yeah, well, I haven’t seen her since last summer.” Winn said, but then he looked down at his feet before continuing. “And she’s way out of my league, really.” He added sadly. But Mon-El was already shaking his head.

“Nuh-uh. Nope. Not on my watch.” He said, and Winn looked at him. “Don’t pull that self-deprecating crap with me, Winn. You’re awesome. No one is out of your league.” Winn’s look was skeptical in response.

“I think that’s why she waited until the last day. She’s from the popular girls crowd, but she’s so smart, I think she gets bored with them.” Mon-El nodded, understanding that dating someone that ran in a different social circle than your own was hard. He’d seen about a hundred Earth movies about that exact same subject. But it was definitely possible.

“Is she back this year?” He asked, and Winn nodded as they came to a stop under the tall canopy of the old-growth trees, giant maples and oaks.

“I saw her sitting at James’ table at lunch, but I avoided eye contact. I wasn’t going to go say hi when he was right there.”

“I don’t blame you.” Mon-El replied. “So what’s her name?” He asked.

“Lena.” Winn said. “Lena Luthor.” He added, and with timing that was already seeming to become notorious, Jimmy jogged up behind them at that exact moment.

“Are you still going on about her? No one believes that happened, Winn. She’s out of your league, man!” He said, his smile blinding even in the shade of the trees. Mon-El curled his hand in a fist and tensed his arm to prevent himself from smashing it into his stupid, perfect face. It wasn’t just what he said, it was how he said it. Oozing charisma, like what he was saying was friendly, and not insulting at all. He just constantly dished out ego-hits to other people without acting mean at all, and to most, it would be completely disorienting, to be insulted by someone smiling and acting like a friend. Even Winn seemed to not know what to do or say, so Mon-El decided to step in.

“Are you calling him a liar?” Mon-El asked, eyeing the taller boy, who did not seem to expect any kind of retort or confrontation. He turned to Mon-El, a surprised look on his face.

“Why is this any of your business, new guy? You’ve been here for, what, two seconds, and you’ve already been in my face three times.” He asked, his deep voice commanding and his brows knit, his thick, muscly arms crossed across his chest.

“You mean you’ve acted like a dick three times in the two seconds I’ve been here. It’s not my fault if you’re an asshole.” Mon-El shrugged, tilting his head and smirking, just a little.

“And now you’re calling me an asshole.” James replied, stepping forward and puffing out his chest, but Mon-El held his ground.

“If the gigantic shoe fits.” He replied, and James’ scowl deepened.

“Listen, new guy, I don’t know why you’ve got such a huge chip on your shoulder, but I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. I’ve known Winn _since I was a kid._ Everyone knows me here, they know I’m not an asshole, _Winn_ knows I’m not an asshole, he can take a joke, unlike you. I get along with everyone—“ Then he turned to some of the guys awkwardly standing behind him. “Tell him!” He urged, and a couple of them vehemently nodded their heads, a few more did so less confidently. Some just stood there looking down at their feet or up at the ropes course above them.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right, that convinced me. I guess you’re not an asshole after all.” Mon-El replied, sarcasm dripping from every word. Jimmy was angry now. “You get along with everyone because they’re all too scared to disagree with you.” He added, and Jimmy’s eyes flashed in anger. Probably because he knew it was true.

“What is your problem, man?” Jimmy asked, stepping forward again. He was intimidatingly close, though Mon-El felt no fear. What did he have to be afraid about? Jimmy should be afraid of breaking his fist if he tried to punch him.

“I don’t like bullies.” Mon-El replied simply, and that was the most thrown off he’d seen James look since he’d met him. His eyes widened and then his scowl deepened.

“What? I’m not a bull—how can you even say that? I get along with everyone! I—I’m editor of the school newspaper, president of the student council, I run this town! This is _my_ camp, and you come in here calling me—me of all people—“ He couldn’t seem to say it, though. So Mon-El finished his sentence for him.

“A bully.” He said, deadpan, and thought he might see steam start shooting out Jimmy’s ears any moment. “But, I don’t know, you’re the 6’3 wall of muscle looming over me with his fists clenched, so you tell me.” He added, and Jimmy’s rage seemed to falter, checked by his desire for a positive self-image. His fists slackened and he took a step back, and Mon-El felt his heartrate slow down just a little. He didn’t know what he was doing, picking fights already, it was the easiest way to be found out for what he was. But he couldn’t just stand around while Jimmy stepped on all the little people and still thought of himself as the “good guy”. He wouldn’t let him treat Winn like that. And it also didn’t help that he reminded Mon-El strongly of an old rival on Daxam, Nim. But on Daxam, Mon-El didn’t have powers like he did here.

“Listen,” Mon-El continued, his tone more reasonable, stepping forward into the space Jimmy left behind. “I get it. You’re smart, tall, good looking, strong, coordinated, charismatic... The world bends to guys like you. You get used to it, probably come to expect it, I understand, I get it. I honestly could care less, unless you’re a jerk to my friends. _Then_ we have a problem.” Mon-El said. Jimmy seemed to be completely taken aback, and it took him a moment to respond.

“I wasn’t being a jerk to Winn, we were joking around. There’s a difference.”

“Okay, then how about you don’t ‘joke around’ with him like that anymore, and we won’t have a problem.” Jimmy paused for a long moment and there seemed to be an internal debate before he nodded a little, willfully reverting back to his charming persona.

“Sure. Sorry Winn.” He said, turning to the shorter boy who had stepped up beside Mon-El, surprising both of them. “Your man here can’t take a joke, you know I wouldn’t do you like that. But I’m sorry anyways. We good?”

“We’re good James, but—“ Winn hesitated, like he wasn’t sure if he should continue, but he pressed on. “Whatever you thought you heard, you heard wrong. It was just bad timing. Listen, don’t tell her, please? It was just one kiss at the end of last summer, she probably doesn’t even remember it. I’m not here bragging about it, please don’t tell her I was talking about her.” Winn added, pleading with Jimmy. Mon-El looked at the taller boy and worried for just an instant before he saw him revert back completely into his normal self-confident, easy smiling self as he did. Jimmy loved when people deferred to him, he loved being in control, Mon-El could tell. It may fool most people, but Mon-El saw it as plainly as if it were written on his forehead.

Jimmy smiled, leaning back with his head cocked a little and he nodded at Winn, and seemed to puff up as Winn sagged with relief. “No worries man. I’ve got your back, I think your new friend here has the wrong idea about me.” He added, looking at Mon-El toward the end. “I’m not a bad guy.” He finished, after a dramatic pause.

“Thanks, James.” Winn replied, relieved, but he somehow seemed smaller than he normally did. More subdued. He was scared. And it made Mon-El mad, but he had to play the game. James was changing tactics. He was going to be the nice guy, paint ‘Mike’ out to be the bad guy if he kept being aggressive. Mon-El couldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“Maybe I do have the wrong idea about you.” He said to James, willfully making his eyes soft and his body language less threatening. He felt like he was back in nursery school on Daxam, the social politics and maneuvering started so early there, this whole interaction seemed extremely juvenile. He could see his next move clearly, and it was working. He could see Jimmy relax as he felt himself regain a modicum of control over ‘Mike’.

It wasn’t easy, backing down and letting Jimmy feel powerful, but it was the right move. He felt if he were back on Daxam and someone like Nim had gotten up in his face like that, he may have pushed the situation to blows, gone for the full on power play, though it risked him losing. But on Earth, Mon-El couldn’t lose a fight. He knew that, but the annoying thing was that James _didn’t._ And he could get really hurt if he got aggressive with Mon-El. Mon-El wasn’t even sure he’d be able to deliver a punch without killing the guy, so he thought it would be best to avoid it. Plus he didn’t want to make things harder for Winn. He had meant to help him when he confronted Jimmy, not hurt him.

The blinding white smile was back on Jimmy’s face. “Great!” He said, holding out his hand for Mon-El to either shake or slap. Mon-El went with a careful shake, and as he did, Jimmy asked him, “Friends?” To anyone else, it looked like they’d made up. But those guys didn’t realize how hard Jimmy was squeezing his hand. A human would likely have been hurt by the force of his grip but Mon-El had to stop himself from laughing as he saw a twitch in Jimmy’s eye from the strain he was putting into the handshake, while attempting to keep the guise of a smile on his face.

“Friends!” Mon-El agreed, smiling widely and in a very friendly manner, and shook Jimmy’s hand, completely unreactive to the aggressive power play. The confused, frustrated expression Jimmy wore, poorly hidden behind a fake smile, was so satisfying Mon-El wished he had a picture. But just at that moment, John, the head counsellor walked past them all carrying a massive canvas bag that looked like it was probably really heavy, though he didn’t seem to be struggling with it.

He dropped it onto the ground before them with a thud and then addressed the male counsellors that were all standing around watching the showdown between Jimmy and Mike. “Alright men, we can sing Koom-ba-ya later.” He started, looking directly at James in a knowing way, before continuing. “For now we’ve got two hours to get you all certified for the ropes course before you’ve got to head down to the lake. I want you to pair up, and you’ll take turns climbing and belaying. Chris, Emery, I know you two are up to date, so I want you to float and help where you’re needed. We don’t have much time.”

Emery and another boy, Chris, Mon-El supposed, agreed and John nodded once sharply in return. “Good. Now I’m going to give a demonstration and I only want to give it once. I recommend you pay attention.” And Mon-El did. He paid attention to every word and learned every knot perfectly. Because he knew Jimmy was going to do it perfectly, and call it petty, but Mon-El couldn’t let him have the satisfaction of beating him. In anything. Not yet at least, not after witnessing him bullying or belittling Winn twice already in one day. That guy needed to be taken down a peg.

And so, Mon-El ended up having a wonderful afternoon, watching Jimmy become more and more flustered and frustrated as he tried in vain to beat Mon-El. At anything. At everything. Mon-El had been correct in anticipating Jimmy’s competitiveness. The seriousness on his face, the sweat on his brow were hilarious as he furiously threw the rope around, setting up his knot and readying his gear to belay, doing everything he could to be the fastest, best one, only to look over every time and see Mon-El, casually standing there. Already done. Trying not to smirk. It was the best possible revenge.

They climbed side by side and Mon-El made sure to beat him by just a little, every time. Again and again there were opportunities to compete, and with every victory, Winn seemed to be growing with confidence and pride. He was emerging from the belittled state James had left him in, and in turn that made Mon-El more proud than he could have imagined. And as Mon-El continued to joke around with and associate with Winn, the other boys started opening up and soon the whole group was having fun. Well, everyone but Jimmy. And Mon-El wondered if a good part of that had to do with even Jimmy’s friends thinking it was about time someone gave him a run for his money.

Yes, he knew he was only climbing faster and beating Jimmy because he had super powers, so he couldn’t really claim these victories as points of personal pride. But it was making Winn so happy, and seeing someone else, a friend, so genuinely excited for him, not out for themselves, not having some sort of duplicitous intention like they would on Daxam, just being purely supportive and proud to be his friend… that was really what made this afternoon special. It was totally new to Mon-El, this feeling. But he felt it was bringing them together, solidifying his friendship with Winn. And it felt really important.

Somehow, unexpectedly, completely against his will and intention, Mon-El found himself being sucked into this life. Camp life. He never could have predicted it, his commitment to quitting after the first week was so thorough. And yet, here he was. Walking out of the woods after two hours of climbing and joking, and John yelling at them all to be serious, and Jimmy being frustrated out of his mind but having to pretend not to be to maintain his cool-guy illusion… They were on their way to change into their trunks so they could switch with the girls and start their swimming certifications. The sun was shining, and the birds were singing, occasionally the people were too, and it was just simply, a beautiful, wonderful day. And it suddenly hit him. How much fun he was having. And how much he didn’t expect to be having it.

He was supposed to hate this. That was his plan. But he hadn’t planned on meeting Winn. Or Kara. Or even Alex or Maggie or his new frenemy Jimmy. He hadn’t expected his first day to be so interesting and intriguing, so full of drama and excitement. He wasn’t expecting even the simple pleasures of nature around him to become so much more pleasurable with groups of people to fill them with life. He’d walked these grounds for the last six months, but before now their beauty had been a lonely, solitary one. But the life of the camp transformed the woods and somehow made the hills happier and the sun shinier. He didn’t know what was happening. Had they spiked the kool-aid at lunch?

Whatever it was, he was going with it. He was happy as he changed at the cabin with Winn and threw his towel over his shoulder and walked down the hill to the waterfront in flip-flops, relishing the feeling of the sun on the skin of his chest and back. It seemed to give him power, to recharge his batteries and he was already feeling optimistic and happy, but things got even better when he spotted movement in the distance. It was far away, they’d look like ants to anyone else, but not to Mon-El. Coming up the top of the waterfront steps were the girls. They were wet and in their bathing suits, many wrapped in towels, but he didn’t care about them.

Mon-El couldn’t help himself. He enhanced his vision, looking for _her_. He didn’t have to wait long. She was smiling and laughing with Alex as she crested the top of the steps. Her blonde hair was darker from the water, and even from here he could see her blue eyes shining. They were made even more stunning by the royal blue one piece bathing suit she wore, though he only barely got a peek at her body before her eyes were on his, and he felt an electric jolt shoot through him, not entirely unpleasant. She smiled, like she knew he was watching, and he almost tripped he was so caught off guard. It was stunning. It was impossible. But… she… no, she couldn’t be looking back at him. He was using his powers, he’d have to look like a little dot in the distance to her. It was just a coincidence. But it was uncanny. Because that expression, that little smile… they felt like they were for _him._ But they couldn’t be.

Kara turned to her right a moment later and the connection was broken, and by then the other boys were noticing the girls in the distance and were now calling out, and some of the girls shouting out in return. Everyone was in great spirits as they made it down to the waterfront. Well, everyone except Jimmy. He was struggling to act cheerful with the rest of the guys, he looked like he was possibly having an existential crisis. Mon-El almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Jimmy didn’t like to think of himself as the bad guy, Mon-El could tell. It normally wasn’t a problem because everyone just typically did what he said and he got no pushback, so he didn’t have to think about himself that way. But the angrier he got with losing, the more he had to accept the fact that he wasn’t as saint-like as he liked to believe.

He wouldn’t blame himself, though. He’d want someone else to blame. Someone like Mon-El. This uneasy truce wouldn’t last forever. But for now, he had no choice. He had to have a reason other than jealousy to strike at him now, because Mon-El was already befriending all the other guys. They might turn on Jimmy if he made a bad move now, so to protect his power, he behaved. But Mon-El noticed the slight twitch in his smile as Emery started taking bets on how fast Mike’s lap times would be at the pool. It seemed to be a foregone conclusion that he’d beat Jimmy here, too. They weren’t wrong.

 

 

“You know, I really thought he was going to crack when you beat his lap time record.” Winn laughed, circling the conversation back around from video games to their swimming test earlier. Mon-El shrugged and smirked a little, the memory flashing back and bringing with it the smug feeling of retribution. He was happy to have given Winn this victory, he felt he needed it. And he seemed to be on top of the world as they headed down the hill towards the forest path that led to the campfire spot. Mon-El was happy to talk about anything that would keep his mind off the somersaults his stomach seemed to be doing, the closer they got.

“I’m glad he didn’t. It would have been really awkward if I got kicked out of camp on the first day for fighting… and then had to keep living on the grounds.” He replied, and Winn laughed. “And Carol and Phil would _not_ be happy.” He added, honestly.

“Yeah, good point. Maybe you’re better as friends than enemies.” He reasoned, and Mon-El turned to look at him like he was crazy.

“Friends?” He asked, then laughed. “I don’t think so, I think that ship already left the spaceport this morning when I beat him to the bunk.” He replied, so at ease that he didn’t even realize he may have said something wrong. But now Winn looked at him like _he_ was a little crazy, and Mon-El almost froze as he realized what he’d said.

“Spaceport?” Winn asked, then laughed. “You know, Kara used to say the same thing! Is that from, like, a tv show I don’t know about or something?” He added, and Mon-El almost froze, going through a rollercoaster of emotions in the span of a few seconds as he instantly panicked, and then felt relieved as Winn seemed to blow it off, but the feeling was also met with confusion and curiosity. That was an old saying from home that was very similar to an idiom they had on Earth. It was very strange that Kara would have used the same phrase. But he didn’t have long to think about it, Winn was already moving on. “But yeah, I guess that ship probably is out of the spaceport, huh?” He asked, and Mon-El laughed, nodding, feeling it best to move on with him.

“Yeah, I don’t trust that smile. I don’t think there’s anything I could do to make him like me at this point.” Mon-El agreed.

“Probably not.”

“I think I’m going to cry myself to sleep over it.”

“Hah!” Winn laughed, then he nudged Mon-El with his elbow as he walked. They were almost at the edge of the forest, it would only be a few more minutes before they got to the camp fire. “But you know who does like you?” He asked, and Mon-El looked at him in question.

“Who?” He asked, not having any idea who he meant. “Paul?” He wondered aloud, he was the friendliest of all the guys, except Winn of course. But if he liked Mike, Mon-El was going to have to find a kind way to let him down easy. Paul was nice and handsome enough, but Mon-El just wasn’t into him like that. All he could think about was Kara. He hoped he wouldn’t hurt his feelings.

“What? Paul?” Winn asked, his eyes wide as he doubled over laughing. “You know, you might be on to something there, but no! I meant Kara!” He laughed so hard he snorted, reaching out to shove Mon-El’s shoulder. Mon-El saw it coming and prepared for his engrained autonomic reaction, though he was pleasantly surprised to feel it wasn’t as strong as before. Was he already relaxing so much? Maybe Carol and Phil were right. This was exactly what he needed.

After that, Winn’s words seemed to click into place in his brain. “K—Kara?” He choked, and Winn smirked. “No… she—how do you know? Why do you say that?” He stammered. He’d stopped walking, and Winn stopped, turning back to him, shrugging.

“I don’t know for sure. But when I went back after dinner to take my allergy meds in the kitchen, the girls finally showed up and Kara came and said hi, and…” He said, dragging it out, but Mon-El was bouncing on the balls of his feet, he was so anxious. He had been disappointed when the girls were behind schedule on the ropes course and missed dinner, and Winn hadn’t told him he’d seen her after!

“And???” He urged.

“And she seemed very interested in you, she asked how you are, what I thought of you.” Winn finished, and Mon-El didn’t know what to think. Was that a good sign? It had to be… but she could just be sweet. He was the new kid, a foster child, she could just be kind and worried about him. Or maybe she liked him back… but for some reason, his brain wouldn’t allow him to accept that idea. It was too crazy. Plus it was all so new. They’d barely spent any time together. She might change her mind. But it wasn’t a bad start.

“And what did you say?” He asked, then he turned his head as they heard noise up the path, people were coming, so he and Winn continued to walk, lowering their voices just a little.

“Oh, you know, the truth. You’re super boring, not funny at all, terrible at climbing and swimming, all around kinda lame dude.” Winn answered, keeping a straight face, and Mon-El laughed and pushed his shoulder playfully, though he used a little too much force and Winn stumbled off the path, almost falling over. He groaned dramatically as he got back up. “Also super weak, not strong at all.”

Mon-El laughed, then smiled apologetically at his friend. “Sorry.”

“No worries, nothing a full body cast won’t fix.” He replied, rolling the shoulder Mon-El pushed dramatically. “But don’t worry, I had your back. How could I not, after how you had mine with Jimmy earlier?” He asked. Mon-El quirked an eyebrow and smiled shyly.

“That? That was nothing. He had it coming.”

“ _Nothing_ would have been nothing. That wasn’t nothing.” He replied, and Mon-El looked at him, and as their eyes locked, he smiled. What he’d done had seemed little to Mon-El, automatic. But it had meant a lot to Winn, he could tell, and that made Mon-El swell with happiness. The moment was touching, and being two teenage boys, it got awkward quickly. Mon-El cleared his throat and so did Winn, both of them breaking eye contact and looking away.

“Yeah, well, it was, like, bare minimum, at best then.” Mon-El replied, and Winn laughed. But then Mon-El turned to him once more and added, “But seriously I appreciate everything, I didn’t know anyone here, or how anything worked. I’d be pretty lost without you. It was nothing, that’s just what friends do.” He wanted Winn to know how much he appreciated the sense of belonging he had brought with him, Mon-El really would have been lost without him. Winn nodded and smiled in acknowledgment.

“We are friends, aren’t we?” He said, not really a question but a statement. And he said the word ‘friends’ like it had a deeper meaning. Like he was acknowledging the special connection between them, the one that Mon-El had felt almost immediately. There was something genuine, between the two, and it felt like it would endure. And it was probably why Mon-El had made such an abrupt 180 on his intentions to stay on for the summer as a Camp Falling Star counsellor.

“Well, obviously.” Mon-El replied, chuckling, and then they walked in companionable silence for a few moments. The sky was turning a beautiful combination of purple and red as the sun set, and the light breaking through the branches of the wooded path they walked down was beautiful. He was admiring the serenity of the moment, when he heard it. A beautiful voice in the distance, singing like an angel.

“ _So kiss me and smile for me, tell me that you’ll wait for me, hold me like you’ll never let me go…”_ The beauty of the voice and the words instantly entranced Mon-El, and he stopped in his tracks. Winn stopped and raised his head, tilting his ear to try to hear whatever Mike had heard, and after a beat he smiled and nodded.

“Kara.” He said, simply, his smile and expression soft as he strained to listen. Mon-El’s head snapped to Winn’s, though, breaking his reverie.

“Kara?” He asked, needing to know that the voice he was hearing was really, truly her. “The person singing… it’s her?” And Winn’s nod sent the butterflies in his stomach into an erratic frenzy, and set his heart to pounding. He could listen to this voice sing forever, of course it was her.

“Yeah, she loves to sing. She’ll probably sing half the campfire songs tonight, if we let her.” He said, and Mon-El couldn’t help the ear splitting smile that erupted onto his face. He wondered if she’d sing even more than that, if he asked. He couldn’t help it, he hurried the pace of his walk, and only felt a little bad that Winn had to jog to keep up.

When they rounded the corner at the opening of the woods, the sky was dimming to the purples of twilight, the moon already shining, and the crickets chirped. Up ahead, there was a small beach, and the lapping waves of the lake added to the ambiance. It was all beautiful. But not more beautiful that the blonde girl, lit up by the light of the fire, singing her song. _“But I’m leavin’ on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again, Oh babe, I hate to go.”_

She finished right as they arrived, and as she looked up at them, smiling, her blue eyes shone like the comets of Daxam in the firelight. Mon-El felt all the air leave his body, and he couldn’t come up with words. All he could do was smile, shyly, and wave a little. “Winn! Mike!” She exclaimed, jumping up from the log she was sitting on and rushing to hug first Winn, and then Mon-El. Luckily, this time, he remembered to hug her back, though he didn’t know how hard to squeeze. And he hoped she didn’t hear him smell her hair as she pulled away. It smelled like flowers.

“Hey Kara, you started without us!” Winn complained, and Kara laughed and looked guilty.

“Sorry, you know I love campfires!” She replied, and Winn’s expression turned shrewd.

“How many s’mores have you already had?” He asked suddenly, and her guilty look intensified adorably. She looked down at the ground and twisted her toe in the dirt. It was so cute Mon-El almost had to look away.

“Only three.” She confessed guiltily, and the two of them laughed and then Kara’s eyes brightened as she looked at Mon-El. “Oooh! First s’more!” She squealed, grabbing Mon-El’s arm and jumping a little in excitement. He laughed and smiled as he looked at her, but he still didn’t seem to be capable of speech. “You’re gonna want to sit down for this.” She added, seriously, though there was a slight upward turn at the edge of her lips.

He nodded in return, equally seriously, and she burst into a smile. And it was hard to tell in the lighting, but he thought there might be some new colour in those cheeks. “The anticipation has been killing me.” He said finally, silently praising Rao for the return of his ability to communicate verbally. She squeaked a little in return, then turned away from them to go grab a long stick, of which she punctured two marshmallows on the end of. It didn’t look entirely sanitary, but she seemed to think it was alright so who was he to complain.

He sat down in the middle of the log as she grabbed some other materials, and Winn on his right. When Kara came back, Mon-El noticed her give Winn a secretive, excited look, before sitting down to his left, so close he could feel the heat from her body almost as strongly as the heat from the fire. His butterflies were so active he thought they might escape, but he did his best to keep his calm around her. He had to reach back to the old Mon-El, the confident, social, charming Mon-El. The one that seemed to disappear whenever Kara was around, for some reason. But he needed him right now. Or at least a little bit of him.

“So…” He said, turning to her just a little. He didn’t have to turn far, she was _right_ there. “How does this work?” He asked, and her eyes lit up with excitement. Mon-El had to stop himself from laughing, he found her so adorable. Her love and enthusiasm for life was so… refreshing. He found himself absorbing it, even with just a little contact with her, and he wanted more. He wanted to be happy like her, he just wanted to be _around_ her. He felt like, even after their short time knowing each other, that that was the key to being happy. Just being around her. But that was jumping the gun, like, way too much. He had to slow himself down. He couldn’t get too ahead of himself. Though it was hard, with her arm brushing past his side, her voice in his ears.

“Okay, first, you need to toast your marshmallow on the fire.” She said, and she handed Mon-El the stick she had loaded up. He held it in his hand, looking at it, not knowing what to do. She looked at him expectantly, and he got the impression she expected him to at least know what to do with this. This was common Earth knowledge, and the longer it took him to react, the weirder it would look. So, trying not to panic, he decided on the most logical solution: he reached forward and stuck the end of the stick into the center of the fire. Within a second or two, the marshmallows went up in flames, and both Kara and Winn laughed from beside him.

“Well that’s one way to toast a marshmallow.” Winn remarked, and Kara reached forward and placed her hand over top of his, guiding him to remove the stick from the fire. As her skin touched his, his head snapped toward her and their eyes connected. And for a brief moment, it was like everything stopped. The fire stopped crackling, the crickets stopped chirping, the waves stopped crashing. Mon-El felt his breath catch, and he had to fight every crazy, insane urge in his body that wanted to lean forward, close the remaining inches between them and kiss her. But this was _not_ the time. Winn was right there. They’d just met. It was insane. And yet the urge was there.

After a moment, she smiled shyly and removed her hand, and this time Mon-El was sure he saw a blush rise in her beautiful cheeks as dimples formed. “You really are new at this.” She chuckled, though she wasn’t judging him, her tone was patient and kind. She reached for the stick, plucked the two pieces of gooey charcoal marshmallow from the top and threw them into the fire. Then she got up, got two fresh marshmallows, as well as two for Winn, and came back. This time, she sat even closer on the log, and she nudged him with her shoulder.

“Ok this time, hold it just outside of the fire, over the coals.” She said. “Like this,” She added, holding out the stick and rotating it gently. Well, that made a lot more sense. “Here.” She said, gesturing for him to take over. He was more successful on his second go, and he found not too long after that that s’mores were a delicious sugary combination of melted marshmallow and chocolate squished between two pieces of graham cracker. It was delicious, though he didn’t love them quite as much as Kara seemed to. Over the course of the night, she had another five or six of them.

That was the most magical night of Mon-El’s life. He couldn’t imagine anything making it better. As the sky darkened and the stars came out, Kara sang a few more songs. Occasionally, the group that circled the fire sang along with her, sometimes they all just sat back and enjoyed her beautiful voice. There were fun stories told, and lots of jokes, and Kara would turn and whisper in his ear explanations of everything he didn’t understand, sending shivers down his spine every time. Even the ceremonial dunking of the lunch game cheaters was a blast, with an especially fun chase down of Jimmy who definitely did not want to be thrown into the lake.

Despite having friends everywhere, and lots of people getting up and moving around, she stayed there, beside him, the whole night. Or, every time she got up, she returned. And Mon-El felt like the luckiest person in the world. He thought maybe Jimmy thought so, too, as his expression turned from what appeared to be jealous to openly hostile as the night went on. Especially after his dip in the lake. It didn’t slip by him, that Kara was spending her time with Mike, and he looked him straight in the eye on one such occasion that she whispered in Mike’s ear. But that just made it better. Mon-El just smiled at him, his own expression friendly, and turned his face towards the intoxicating blonde, leaving Jimmy to watch and forgetting about him instantly.

As the night wore on, Mon-El also learned so much more about Kara, and found that he liked every little thing he learned. First of all, she was sunlight personified. She was excited and happy about life in general it seemed, and it was infectious. Mon-El felt himself mirroring her smile, and even attempting to sing along to a song or two, ones with repeating choruses that were easy to learn. If you’d asked him yesterday, Mon-El would have told you he was _not_ a singalong kind of guy. But there was something about this girl.

He also found out she was heavily involved in the school yearbook, she played varsity soccer and field lacrosse, sang in the choir, she volunteered at the local animal shelter walking stray dogs, and she loved watching musicals of any kind. And she assured him that despite the fact that she made a mean s’more, she was a terrible cook or baker. Mon-El could have listened to her talk all night. She asked him some questions too, though she wasn’t pushy, on account of his recent entry into the foster system. People seemed to respect that it was a bit of a touchy subject, and it made things easier, though he tried to answer as honestly he could, changing a few details here and there to make it sound like things happened on Earth and not thousands of light years away.

It was perfect. Mon-El wished it could last forever, though people were already trickling back towards their cabins. Jimmy was first, and a big crowd followed behind him as usual. It was getting late, and Winn was stifling yawns. He was sitting on a stump a little way down, by Alex and Maggie, though Kara and Mon-El still sat together on the log. He hadn’t slid over to give her more room when Winn had gotten up, he hoped she didn’t mind. She didn’t seem to…

Mon-El felt like a total kid around this girl who seemed to glow with life and energy, he lost all the suave he had learned growing up and he seemed to be completely back to basics as he second guessed every move they made, every word they said. He was so smitten with her, he just couldn’t see any of the signs she was sending. If she was sending any. He thought she liked him back. He _hoped_ she did. But he wasn’t sure. A part of him seemed to refuse to believe that someone so special would like someone like him in return.

So he may have noticed the way she played with her hair, the frequency that she would touch his leg or arm, the sparkle in her eyes, but he didn’t attribute any meaning to the actions. But as the evening came to a close, he finally thought, he hoped, that he got a sign from her. Or maybe it was just her being friendly, he still wasn’t sure.

But it was the last song. Maggie was singing, and her voice was lovely. Everyone was gone, except for the head counsellors John and Megan, and Winn, Kara, Alex, and Maggie. Maggie’s delicate melody was beautiful, and Kara and Mon-El were leaning back, looking up at the stars, listening. Mon-El was just thinking about how he wished this moment could stretch into infinity, when he felt her fingers softly entwine with his. It took the breath from his lungs and he bit his bottom lip to stop himself from saying or doing anything to ruin the moment. He felt like even breathing wrong could make her stop, and he didn’t want her to ever stop.

After, finally, taking a deep breath and feeling like enough time had passed, he looked over at her. She was still gazing up at the starry night, transfixed, but after a moment she turned and looked into his eyes and a soft smile played on her lips. For a moment they just looked at each other, their bodies connected at the palm, and then they looked back up at the sky, perfectly content.

A minute later the song ended and John got up to fill the fire bucket with water and Kara’s fingers gently pulled away as she rose, stretching. Neither of them acknowledged what happened, but neither could keep the smile off their face as they all walked back through the woods together. Alex illuminated the path ahead until it was time to part ways. There was no hug goodbye, though as the girls turned to leave, Kara did turn back and wave shyly to Mike, mouthing the word ‘bye’, and Mon-El felt like he might float away.

Winn must have seen, because he was smirking as they made their way up the hill, the night illuminated by the light of the almost full moon. After a minute, Mon-El was smirking too, trying to hold back his smile but not able to. “What?” He asked, but he knew what. Winn’s smirk twisted higher on his cheek before splitting into a toothy, knowing grin.

“Have a good time at the campfire?” He asked, his eyebrows quirked, his voice smug like he knew the answer. Mon-El tried to bite down on his lips to stop his smile but it was no use, it broke free and then he was nodding, looking shyly down at the ground as he did.

“Yeah,” He said, nodding at the ground and knowing his cheeks were probably a bright red with blush, thankful Winn at least couldn’t see that. “Yeah, it was pretty good.” He added, and Winn snorted, slapping him on the shoulder, and Mon-El looked up at him. “You know, it wasn’t _terrible._ ” He added sarcastically, wobbling his head back and forth making Winn laugh, and then the two boys were jogging up towards their bunk. Mon-El was ready to get some sleep, and he wanted nothing more than to get on with tomorrow. To see Kara again.

And a strange, unexpected part of him was also excited to see what else summer camp had to offer, to see what activities Carol and Phil had in store tomorrow. But mostly it was Kara. Whether she felt the same about him or not, he just couldn’t wait to be around her some more. And to spend time with Winn, and Maggie and Alex, and even Paul. Hell, even Jimmy. But mostly, it was Kara.

And for about the twentieth time today, he marvelled at how much he _didn’t_ hate this. Summer Camp. He’d dreaded it for months, fought Phil and Carol at every step. And yet here he was, singing along at campfires, excited to wake up and get going. He was becoming a part of something, unexpectedly. _Summer camp…_ he thought to himself as they slowed down, approaching the wooden porch of the log cabin. The light inside showed the boys hadn’t gone to sleep yet, and showed no sign of settling down, and he smiled, surprised that that didn’t annoy him in any way. He was actually excited to head in and join them. _Who knew…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Young love! I hope you guys are still enjoying this, after working on this chapter for a couple weeks I'd love to hear what you thought of it! I think I'm over my writer's block, so expect the next chapter to be a little shorter and coming out soon!
> 
> Thanks as always to everyone who reads, especially those who comment and kudos! It keeps me so motivated, and helps me get through blocks like this last one!


	6. Sunrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mon-El wakes up from possibly the best sleep he's ever had and decides to go for a 3am stroll around the grounds. What he finds he never could have expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok first of all, THANK YOU for all the people leaving comments on the last chapter and the fic in general, because without you guys I probably wouldn't have been able to pull out of my weird writers-block funk and get back at it! I'm sorry for the long hiatus, but I hope you enjoy this and I promise to update again soon! Thanks to everyone for keeping me motivated and just a few more days until more Supergirl!

When Mon-El woke at around 3am, it wasn’t in a cold sweat or with a start, as he had grown accustomed to. It had been months since his dreams hadn’t been plagued nightmares, images of the planet he watched die, safe in his pod as he left his family and everyone he had ever known behind. Every night since he’d woken on Earth he had relived the horror, an endless torment that usually caused him to avoid sleep at all costs.

But not tonight. In fact, he was so relaxed, he had laid down and drifted off to sleep without even a hint of worry, and despite the chorus of snores and sleeping sounds from the boys around him, he had had the best rest of his Earth life. The best rest of his entire life, actually, if you didn’t count the coma-like state the sleeping draughts on Daxam brought about. It felt so good that he had laid there for a full minute or two in comfort before he even realized the significance of what had just happened.

He didn’t know how to explain it. He supposed having people around, making friends, the fresh air and physical activity… he’d been too busy to worry, too busy to even have nightmares, it seemed. He made a resolution in that moment to thank Phil and Carol for their insistence on him doing this. If it wasn’t for them forcing him, he would have been hiding in his room all of yesterday, binging some terrible C-list tv show, because he had finished most of the good ones already. And he wouldn’t have known it yesterday, but he knew now he’d pick Winn and Kara over Saved By The Bell: The College Years any day.

As he lay there, thinking about his contented state, wondering how to preserve it, he realized he wasn’t tired at all. In fact, he felt completely refreshed. He sat up in his bed a little, propping himself up enough with his arm to see out the little section of the window that was visible from the bottom bunk. The night outside seemed incredibly peaceful. The moon was almost full and the stars were out in all their glory without a cloud in the sky to hide them. The grounds were illuminated under their soft silver light and all at once Mon-El felt them call to him.

The stars often called to him, and every time they did he’d listen. He’d wander into the field to spend the remaining hours until dawn laying in the grass and gazing up at the sky, naming stars, remembering the past, and fighting off the urge to sleep. He’d memorized all of the Earth constellations, and added a few others he knew from his pod’s computer system. He’d sometimes see a shooting star and feel an irresistible burst of hope in his chest that maybe, just maybe, that was someone from home, finding their way to Earth. That he wouldn’t be so alone. But the feeling was always followed by heartache as he realized it was just another asteroid, burning up as it passed Earth’s atmosphere.

Most nights he spent under the stars were somber, but tonight felt different. He wasn’t tired, or afraid, or sad. In fact, rather than worry, all he felt like doing was obsessively replaying the events of the previous day over and over in his head. Reliving every feeling of electric shock that he felt, each time his eyes had met Kara’s, remembering the touch of her skin as she hugged him or held his hand. Thinking about the pride he’d felt as he defended Winn, the gratefulness he felt for his friendship. He had so much to think about, who had time to worry?

Carefully, as quietly as he could, Mon-El eased the zipper of his sleeping bag down slowly. When it was open just enough, he slipped out, sliding his feet into the well-worn sneakers he’d left beside the bed for this very occasion. He’d expected to be sneaking out of the cabin tonight, but he hadn’t expected it to be because he had already gotten a full, restful night’s sleep. He was going to have to figure something out if this was going to happen every night, because he knew Jimmy would notice before too long that Mon-El didn’t seem to need more than three or four hours of sleep to function. He seemed to be keeping a really close eye on Mike, too, looking for anything to latch on to. A mistake, a flaw. And Mon-El refused to give it to him.

His mind on Jimmy, Mon-El eyed his bunk furtively as he rose carefully to his feet. Jimmy was turned the other way, his back to Mon-El. It was hard to know for sure, but Mon-El thought his breathing seemed deep and even, and felt reasonably assured he was asleep. As Mon-El turned to leave, the wooden floor creaked loudly causing Winn to react sleepily, rolling over and smacking his lips, murmuring softly and incoherently. Mon-El winced at the squealing racket, freezing instantly, hoping no one woke. It wasn’t that he thought it was against the rules to get up and go to the bathroom at night, it’s just that he didn’t want anyone hearing and keeping tabs on him. He planned to return to his bunk just before sunrise and it wouldn’t do if anyone noticed he was missing.

Carefully testing the floor ahead with his toes and once again fighting the annoying and crazy but pervasive feeling that he _should_ be able to fly, Mon-El slowly made his way out of the cabin unnoticed. He breathed a deep sigh of relief as he stopped about 20 feet in front of the cabin, leaning back and looking up at the shimmering night sky. It seemed like an impossible amount of stars, and as he took them in he felt the annoyance from moments before melt away and the light feeling from before return. He smiled at the warmth and comfort of the sensation, though his smile faltered abruptly a few seconds later as he realized how out-of-character it was. He rarely smiled at all, let alone by himself. Was this what a good night’s sleep would do for you?

The smile returned to his face unnoticed a minute later as the view of the sky reminded him of stargazing earlier that night with Kara, and he felt the thrill all over again of the electricity of her touch, the way it made his heart pound and his stomach do somersaults. He decided in that moment to go sit on the log, his and Kara’s log, and think about it some more.

He walked at a human’s pace, in no particular hurry, a big goofy smile splitting his face as he remembered the embarrassment and thrill of feeding Kara at lunch. He also thought about Winn as he meandered across the camp grounds, his mind flitting to newly formed memories every time he saw something new along his walk. Like before yesterday, the big boulder by the hill was just a _rock._ But now he saw it and remembered the rousing and almost violently fought game of king of the hill he’d played on it with Winn and Stephen, and couple other guys. They’d been scrambling up to be the one standing at the top, pulling and pushing each other down in the process, and though of course Mon-El had to let them win, it had been tremendously fun. Well, until Jimmy showed up and it got way too competitive. Everyone had dispersed not long after that.

Lost in thought, Mon-El cut across the tarmac, deciding to pop into the mess hall to grab a midnight snack. As he crossed the asphalt he could see the white painted lines lit up under the light of the moon and he snorted in mirth. Until yesterday, he’d had no idea what they were for, and he’d never bothered to ask. It turns out there were dozens of games that could be played with just the lines and usually a ball. Four square had been particularly fun because Mon-El had been able to de-throne Jimmy from the king square, though the game ended a little later when Mon-El had spiked a ball too hard, popping it. If he was going to play games with humans, he really needed to learn to control his strength, though he wasn’t too worried because everyone just laughed and no one seemed suspicious. Though Kara had asked him about it later at the campfire, hearing about it through the grapevine. But he just told her the ball had hit a rock and she seemed happy.

It was weird that she’d even ask about it, now that he thought about it. But he figured she was just a curious person. She’d actually even told him she wanted to be a reporter one day, and Mon-El thought it was a great idea. She was smart and perceptive, but also there was just something about her that made you want to spill your guts and tell her your deepest secrets. It had only been one day and Mon-El had already lamented not being about to tell her about himself. But that was just a feeling he was going to have to get used to.

Inside the mess-hall, Mon-El rooted through the cupboards for available snacks and emerged a minute later with a pudding cup and a spoon. He loved pudding cups, he’d only just discovered them a couple weeks ago as Carol and Phil had been stocking up for camp. The great thing about them, besides being delicious, was they were fully sealed so you could take them with you, and open them whenever you were ready to eat them. You could take them anywhere! Mon-El shook his head in wonder not for the first time at the ingenuity of Earth people when it came to their food products. So much variety of flavours! Such portability! For someone as fond as eating as Mon-El, he had to admit it was one of his favourite things about Earth. One of them, though that list seemed to be getting longer every minute, these days, so it had some competition.

Mon-El tossed the pudding cup casually into the air, catching it, and repeating as he walked around the grounds, whistling softly to himself as he did. He was about half way down the wooded path to the beach clearing when he stopped abruptly, freezing and listening. He’d heard something. A crack, or a small crash, in the woods. _A deer!_ He thought, squinting, trying to see something, though the light of the moon was mostly blocked in by the canopy of the old-growth deciduous forest and it was hard to make anything out, even with his enhanced eyesight. .

He looked down at the pudding in his hand and then up at the light he could see far ahead at the end of the path, thinking about his plans to eat it under the stars, and decided on a detour. With a slight shrug to himself, he turned and stepped off the beaten path and into the woods. He figured best case scenario he’d get to see a deer, and if it was something like a bear or cougar, he could scare it away and protect the people at the camp. They didn’t often come this way, but it wasn’t unheard of.

Mon-El felt his resolution to find the source of the sound instantly double as the thought of a predator entered his mind. If it _was_ a bear, it could potentially hurt Kara or Winn! It would even be a bummer if Jimmy got eaten, too, so he had to make sure the woods were clear. So for the next several minutes, Mon-El slowly, carefully, as quietly as he could, crept through the woods, making sure to keep an eye up in the trees just as much as the ground, because cougars were ambush predators and were known to attack from above.

But as he moved farther away from the path, if anything was there, it wasn’t breaking its cover or showing itself. He tried to listen for a heartbeat but found it difficult over the chirping of crickets and creaking of trees and rustling of leaves in the soft summer breeze. He was starting to doubt he’d heard anything at all, when almost from directly above him he heard a branch snap. He jumped a little in surprise, and looked up, startled, hoping he wasn’t going to see a giant tawny cat springing down at him.

To his relief, there wasn’t a cat. He didn’t know what he expected to see, but it certainly wasn’t what he saw. Because it wasn’t a cat. It was… a girl. A girl. At least 60 feet up a massive oak, the lowest branch being about 20 feet up. And it wasn’t just any girl. Of course not. It was Kara. Mon-El just stared at her with his jaw hanging open in confusion, not sure what to say. It was clear she had been trying to go unseen, and she winced when she realized she’d been caught, and was now looking down at him with the most apologetic, embarrassed grimace on her face.

After a long moment, a confused smile spread on Mon-El’s face. “Hey Kara.” He greeted casually, waving, and even in the dark he could see her beam back at him.

“Hey Mike!” She said brightly, like she wasn’t stuck sixty feet up a tree. She paused after, and there was a slightly awkward silence as Mon-El figured out how he was going to ask how the heck she got stuck up in such a predicament without offending her. Was this normal? He was definitely new to Earth so he didn’t want to judge, but it didn’t seem to be a behaviour shown in tv or movies much, so he was thrown a little off. And how did she even get up there? But after a moment, she continued. “So…” She added, pausing, her smile twisting almost shyly (and adorably). “Is that pudding?” She asked, catching Mon-El by so much surprise a burst of laughter escaped his diaphragm, he couldn’t help it.

He tossed the cup up casually, catching it, and then smirked up at her. “Sure is.” He said, and he heard her sigh faintly, causing him to chuckle again.

“I love pudding.” She replied wistfully, and Mon-El’s eyebrows narrowed but he was still smiling up at her. This girl was an enigma. A complete mystery. She was so confusing, but Mon-El was completely compelled nonetheless.

“Yeah it’s pretty great.” He decided to reply. She was avoiding the massive elephant in the room, the fact that she was up in a tree for no obvious reason, but he would go along with it as long as she wanted to.

“What flavour is it?” She asked, making her tone casual, disinterested. But she was interested. She was extremely interested. Her eyes were on the little cup he continued to toss up and down, and it made him chuckle. She seemed to enjoy food as much as he did, and he found it adorable.

“Caramel.” He responded, finally, and this time her sigh was much more exaggerated and audible.

“My favourite.” She said wistfully, and Mon-El tried to hold back his smile but failed spectacularly.

“Hey Kara?” He asked, very casually, and saw in the dim light her eyebrows raise in interest.

“Yeah Mike?” she asked in return.

“Do you want my pudding?” He asked, and you’d think he’d announced it was Christmas come early, the way her face lit up.

“Really!?” She asked through a face-splitting smile, and he nodded, holding it up for her before frowning and lowering his arm.

“Yes really.” He responded, chuckling and pausing before continuing. “But I think you should… you know… come down first.” He added, and she looked down in embarrassment.

“Oh, yeah. The whole… tree thing.” She replied and Mon-El barked a laugh, nodding.

“Yeah, the whole… tree thing.” He agreed, and she laughed, but didn’t reply. The moment stretched on and finally he had to ask. “Kara?” Her eyebrows shot up at her name, and she seemed to snap out of thought.

“Yeah Mike?” She answered.

“Are you stuck?” He asked, trying to keep the smile off his face as she dramatically seemed to think it over, look up and down and side to side before shrugging and nodding.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” She conceded.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” He asked, the questions just now shooting into his mind and he felt terrible for not worrying more before. But fortunately, she was shaking her head, her smile widening.

“No, I’m great! There are baby squirrels up here! Mike, they’re _soooo_ cute!” She gushed, and Mon-El snorted.

“So is that why you climbed the tallest tree on the property?” He asked, trying to adopt a stern look of disapproval, but inside all he felt was affection for the sweet girl.

“Pretty much.” She answered, matter-of-factly.

“Baby squirrels.” He clarified, deadpan.

“That about sums it up.” She replied, equally deadpan.

They both paused, looking at one another trying not to smile, but a moment later they both cracked and started laughing together.

“You know that’s kind of…”

“Weird? Yeah, it wouldn’t be the first time someone told me that.” She agreed, unoffended. She was such a free spirit, he found himself inexorably attracted to and pulled towards her. Which was difficult when she was stuck sixty feet above him. The slightly frustrating part was that he could be up there and get her down in a flash, but that would totally expose himself and potentially seriously freak her out.

“I was going to say eccentric.”

“Wouldn’t be a first for that, either.” She replied, and he smiled.

“So are you going to tell me how you got up there in the first place?” He asked, genuinely curious.

“It happened pretty quickly. I was out for a walk, and I heard the babies… next thing I know I’m up here.” She said like it explained everything. “You know it’s way easier to climb than it looks.” She added, but Mon-El was skeptical.

“The lowest branch is, like, two stories up.” He replied quizzically.

“I like climbing trees.” She responded simply, and Mon-El thought about that before shrugging, accepting the answer. It was good enough for him.

“Well did you have a plan for getting down?” He asked, but clearly she didn’t because she was stuck.

“You know I didn’t really think that far? I just saw the—“

“Squirrels, I know.” He interrupted, smiling up at her, wishing she was closer so he could see her better. Maybe even touch her. Maybe kiss her… but no. It was too soon. He didn’t want to freak her out. But why couldn’t he get her lips out of his mind!? She shrugged and smiled in an adorably bashful way. “So I guess we’ve gotta get you out of there, eh?”

“Well how else am I going to get that pudding?” She asked, and he laughed and nodded.

“Good point. Okay, I’ll go get a ladder. Stay there, okay? Don’t. Move.” He instructed, smirking up at her, and it took a moment before she snorted a laugh.

“Is that a ‘stuck in a tree’ joke?” She asked.

“Maybe?” He asked instead of answered, and she forced her face to look stern and shake her head at him.

“Too soon, Mike. Too soon.” He laughed in response but then turned to go. He got a few steps before he turned back to her.

“But seriously Kara… you’re okay?” He asked. He wanted to make sure. Maybe she was just being brave. Maybe she was hurt, or scared. He had to ask, because despite seeming completely unperturbed by the height or precariousness of her situation, she did seem a little worried underneath it all. But he supposed that was to be expected. And the sooner he got her down, the sooner she could feel better.

“Yeah, Mike. I’m good. And…” She paused, her voice softening as she continued. “Thanks. I’m… glad it was you that found me.” She added almost shyly, and Mon-El thought he might have to hold on to something rooted to the ground to keep from floating away.

He didn’t really know how to respond so his own smile turned shy and he felt his cheeks burn as he replied. “Yeah, I’m… I’m glad you were in the tree.” He said, before turning and sprinting away before he could think about how stupid an answer that was. Did he just say he was happy she was stuck in a tree!?

Mon-El practically flew down the path towards the Matthew’s personal residence, where he knew a folding extendible ladder was kept. It should be long enough to get to the lowest branch. From there he hoped she could get down on her own, or he supposed he could go up to rescue her. He tried not to think about that. He didn’t think she was some story book maiden that needed to be saved, and yet he didn’t hate the idea of rescuing her like that. Maybe she’d have to wrap her arms around his neck. Maybe he’d have to carry her down. The thought of her touch sent the butterflies in his stomach fluttering.

Try as he might, the fantasy rescue scenarios kept playing in his head as he moved frustratingly slowly back to the tree she was stuck in. He knew if he went too fast he couldn’t explain it, so he forced himself to move at a (fast) human’s pace the whole way. Which was nothing but trouble because all it did was give him more opportunity to think about Kara and all the ways he wanted to come to her rescue.

He was deep in thought when he turned off the path, carefully lifting the ladder over shrubs and bushes that were trying to snag it. He squinted up at the tree as he got to the clearing underneath, but he couldn’t make her out despite being positive this was the right tree. “Kara?” He called up, his brows furrowed. “I got the ladder!” He added.

He was so focused on the tree that he was caught completely off guard and probably jumped a foot off the ground when she replied from beside him. “My hero!” She cried, to which he would have been ecstatic to hear if he wasn’t recovering from a mild heart attack. How—what—how did she get down? She was stuck, the tree was gigantic… but here she was, leaning casually against a tree trunk, safe on the ground. It was incredibly impressive, bordering on impossible to believe. She didn’t have a scratch on her, either.

When he calmed down a bit he collected his senses enough to give her an incredulous, jaw hanging open kind of look. “How did you?” He asked. “What? How? Because…” He stammered, and she shrugged like it was no big deal.

“It was actually pretty easy, I guess I wasn’t that stuck after all.” She said, blowing it off, but he was still awestruck. That was crazy. It was something he could do, just hop down from a tree, but not an Earth girl. Not even one as amazing as Kara. And yet, she’d done it. Was there anything she couldn’t do?

“I, uhhh, okay…” He tried to agree, putting the ladder down and looking back up at the tree. As soon as he did, Kara hurried forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying her face in the crook of his neck and making Mon-El immediately forget about everything and melt completely. “Oh!” He said awkwardly at first. “A hug…” He added inanely, wishing he could take it back, but he felt her smile into his neck and instantly felt better as she squeezed him tighter.

“Thanks for coming to help me anyways.” She said, and he could feel her lips brush past his neck as she spoke and thought his knees might buckle. He wished he was sitting down, or at least leaning against something, because his entire body seemed to glow for the moment they were connected. After a few long seconds she finally pulled away and Mon-El instantly felt bereft, though she paused when she was still just inches away and her hands fell to his waist. He wished he wasn’t wearing such a thick hoodie in that moment, but those thoughts were jumbled and indistinct. All of his senses were going crazy as they stood there, inches away from each other, and he wasn’t capable of any real sort of rational thought.

All he could really think of was kissing her. Every instinct in his body was screaming to lean forward and kiss her. To get over the fear and just do it. He wanted to feel if those lips were as soft as they looked, or tasted as sweet. And she was giving him all the signs, looking down at his own lips and then back up at his eyes, her own eyes wide open and intense, biting her bottom lip just a little in an irresistible way. Would she hate it if he did? Or would she like it? He was on the verge of making a decision when a sneaky mischievous smile spread over her face, and he frowned at the change in confusion.

But then he felt her hand sneak into the pouch of his sweatshirt and his eyebrows narrowed and a begrudging smile spread over his face as he figured out her game. “This was all about the pudding the whole time, wasn’t it?” He asked. “The hug?” He added, and her sly smile turned positively evil and proud as she yanked her hand out of the pocket and held up the pudding cup like a prize.

“There’s something you need to know about me, Mike.” She said, seriously, still just inches away. He could almost feel her breath on him as she spoke. She paused dramatically before adding. “It’s always about the pudding.” And he laughed as she winked at him for effect.

“I should have known.” He said, and their laughter trailed off a moment later, neither of them wanting to step away. The chirping ‘crrrrrrkkkk’ of the crickets was loud as the silence between them stretched on, and the smile on Kara’s face turned from playful to shy, just a little turn at the corner of her lips showing her happiness. And then she leaned forward and kissed his cheek slowly and sweetly, before slowly pulling back and blinking at him.

“Thanks, Mike.” She said softly, and between the warmth of her kiss and her words, the butterflies in his stomach exploded into activity and Mon-El felt his whole body heat up and he opened his mouth but closed it again as he realized he was no longer capable of speech. Taking advantage of his stunned silence, Kara’s smile turned mischievous once again, and she leaned down, slipped her hand in his plaid flannel pants pocket, and victoriously pulled out the spoon he’d kept there, holding it forward and scrunching her face up adorably.

He couldn’t help but laugh at the face she made, and the tension was broken in that moment, and they both stepped apart and started to head back towards the path together. Luckily Mon-El was once again capable of speech and he looked over to her as they walked curiously. “So how’d you know the spoon was there?” He asked, and she shrugged and waggled her eyebrows conspiratorially.

“I have x-ray vision.” She said seriously and they both looked at each other for a moment as Mon-El tried to respond before she burst out laughing and after a second he was joining in.

“ _That_ would be trouble.” He said, looking at her mock-nervously, to which she played along, looking down at his pants and then back up at him.

“Nice boxers.” She said with a smirk and a wink, and Mon-El felt his cheeks heat up but barked a laugh and pointed at her, narrowing his eyebrows.

“Now I know you’re joking because if you really had x-ray vision you’d know I only wear thongs.” He teased and this time it was her turn to burst out laughing, and she unconsciously reached out and placed her hand on his forearm for a moment. He was so glad he didn’t jump like he did with Winn earlier, because he didn’t think he’d ever be able to forgive himself for ruining this moment.

They chatted a bit as they wandered down the path slowly, heading back towards the camp and their own cabins, and the conversation was easy and felt so natural, which was possibly the biggest surprise to Mon-El. He had not exactly been much of a conversationalist since he came to Earth. But with Kara, and even Winn, it seemed to be much easier. They were good people, and he was thanking Rao about every five minutes that he’d had the good fortune to meet them. And for that kiss. He’d be thanking Rao for that kiss for a long time to come. And hoping for another. But so far, if he was reading the signs right, he allowed the hope to bloom when normally he would stamp it down. Because Kara seemed happy. She seemed at ease. And maybe she only kissed him as a diversion to steal the spoon, but it didn’t feel that way. It almost felt like she took the spoon to break the tension, or because she was nervous. Or maybe she was just devious… he was okay with that too. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to over think it. He wanted to be present in the moment and remember every word so he could play it back for himself later.

Kara was happily digging into the pudding as they walked, making an exaggerated ‘mmmmmm’ noise after every spoonful, and Mon-El couldn’t help but chuckle. “You really like pudding, huh?”

“Mmm, it’s great!” She said, covering her full mouth with a hand before swallowing and smiling widely. “And you know what I love most about pudding cups, but most people don’t talk about?” She asked, and he looked at her, encouraging her to continue. “They’re so portable, you can take them anywhere!” She said, holding the cup up before her like it was a marvel, and Mon-El felt his jaw fall open and his eyes widen.

“No way…” He started, incredulously. “That’s exactly it!” He added in wonder, not sure if on top of x-ray vision she might be able to read minds, too. “Portability is an entirely underrated factor when it comes to good snack foods!” He added, and Kara’s own eyes widened as she vehemently nodded her agreeance.

And for the next hour their conversation flowed. When they arrived at the end of the path and they had to split ways to get back to their cabin, neither of them wanted to leave. So they went and laid on top of the picnic table by the mess hall and watched the stars until they began to fade with the first sign of morning light. They talked about so much, and it was made so much easier by Kara being sensitive about asking him questions. She didn’t pry, so he didn’t find himself having to lie to her much at all.

At some point along the way, as they lay side by side on the picnic table looking up at the stars above, their hands found each other. Mon-El didn’t know whether he’d initiated or her, but they seemed to find their homes with their fingers entwined and palms pressed together. With no song to end and interrupt them, the moment stretched on and on, and they kept the connection, neither acknowledging it as they spoke. Eventually, Mon-El began softly brushing Kara’s knuckles with his thumb, something he hadn’t consciously decided to do but happened anyways, and she looked over at him, her smile shy as their eyes connected and the moment turned electric. But then she looked back up at the sky and so did he, but she didn’t pull her hand away. She seemed to hum her enjoyment.

Their reverie was finally interrupted by the rising sun, when neither of them could stretch the moments any further. Soon people would be up and notice they were gone. Kara sat up first, still holding Mon-El’s hand, and she turned around, standing, to pull him up to his feet. Mon-El didn’t need help, of course, but he let her pull him up because it meant extending their connection, even just by seconds.

“Well, I guess it’s time to get going.” Kara said, smiling at him. And with the faint light of the rising sun, Mon-El could finally see the blue in her eyes again, and it reminded him of home. He didn’t know why, but they did.

“I guess so. I hope you’re not going to be too tired today.” He replied, and she shook her head.

“If I am, it was worth it.” She said, softly, and it almost took the breath away from him. He didn’t know what to say, and she smiled and added more normally, “But I’ll be fine, I don’t need much sleep.”

“Yeah, and if you are tired, it’s really kind of your own fault for hunting squirrels at night.” He joked, and her eyes went wide and she playfully smacked his shoulder.

“I wasn’t _hunting_ them!” She replied, outraged but in good humour, and he smirked.

“That’s what they all say.” He shrugged, and she laughed and leaned forward and pulled him in for a hug. This time it was brief, and she stepped back immediately afterwards, which he thought was a good idea because there was no way he was going to be able to hold back from kissing her at this point if she was anywhere close to him.

“Night Mike. This was fun!” She said brightly, her smile blinding, and he felt himself inflate with happiness at the sight.

“Yeah, how about tomorrow night we meet at the top of the big spruce that looks over the lake. Better views.” He suggested, joking, and she laughed.

“But no baby squirrels.” She shrugged, shaking her head.

“You don’t know that!” He replied and she laughed, turning to walk away but then turning back, continuing to walk backwards away from him.

“Yes I do, I checked!” She said, and he shook his head at her ruefully, once again not quite sure if she was joking or not. There was something really strange about this girl, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but whatever it was, he liked it. He liked it a lot. “See you at breakfast, Mike.” She finished, holding up her hand and curling down her fingers to say goodbye.

“That’s in like two hours.” He said, glancing up at the brightening sky, and she smirked.

“How are you going to make it?” She asked, and he laughed. She had a point.

“I’m more worried about you. You’ve only eaten that one pudding cup, you might starve to death before then.” He replied, and her smile widened before she responded.

“Mike, if you don’t think I have a secret stash of snacks at the cabin, you don’t know me well enough yet.” She laughed, and with that she turned around and started to jog off towards the girls cabins. Mon-El watched her go before turning himself and making his way back up to the boys cabins. He thought about her words as he slowly climbed the hill, and agreed with her. He didn’t know her well enough yet. But he wanted to. He wanted to know everything about her, he could listen to her talk for days. Tonight proved it. It cemented his feelings. They weren’t going away. They weren’t a fluke. They weren’t some momentary infatuation.

No. He was entirely, irreversibly, undeniably head over heels for Kara Danvers. He was simply taken by her, he’d felt it the moment their eyes connected the previous morning, but he accepted it as true as he got to know her better and tonight it was complete. His heart, in their brief time knowing each other, already belonged to her. It was hers to have or to hurt. He just hoped she wanted it. Because if she did, he’d be the happiest guy on Earth. As crazy as that seemed, it was true. Back on Daxam he’d be ridiculed and possibly exiled for such sentimental nonsense, but he already felt that part of himself detaching, and he couldn’t help but feel it was for the better.

In one short day, Mon-El was already feeling himself begin to heal and those wounds that he had carried with him for so long began to close, and as he arrived at his cabin porch, ready to sneak back into his bunk hopefully unnoticed, he stopped and marvelled at the improbability of this happening. If someone, even Carol or Phil, had told him this even the day before yesterday, he’d have called them crazy. But here he was, and all he could feel was gratefulness. For Carol and Phil for taking him in and encouraging (forcing) him to participate in camp, and for Winn and Kara, for giving him people to connect with. He never could have expected the impact they would have on him after such a short time, but he was filled with happiness and gratitude and hoped over the next two months that he’d find a way to show to them how much this meant to him.

With that thought, Mon-El eased open the cabin door and tip-toed back to his bunk. Luckily he had snagged that bed by the door because this would have been way harder in the spider bunk. When he was finally safely back in his bed, he rolled over, smiling to himself and pretended to sleep. He had more than enough happy thoughts to pass the time with before someone would begin to stir. And with that, his mind began to fill with images of blonde hair and blue eyes under a soft silver light, echoes of her touch on his palm, the memory of her face pressed against his neck, and he happily passed the time until Winn woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear what you guys thought!


	7. Capture the Flag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mon-El is starting to suspect something is different about Kara, and her performance during a game of capture the flag doesn't help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, first off, I'm sorry again for the long hiatus! I was having a really hard time writing, but the angst of Monday's episode kickstarted my need for fluff again so here we are! I hope you guys really like this, and thanks again for all the wonderful comments that keep me going <3
> 
> And fyi, there is an indentation problem, some of my paragraphs are indented and some aren't... lol sorry in advance, I have no idea what happened!

              The next two days passed like a dream. Certain moments felt like they would last a life time, like when he and Kara would catch eyes during a group game or over lunch and he would get that falling feeling, and it would go on and on and feel like infinity even if it had been only the briefest of glimpses. At other times, events seemed to blur past at a speed he couldn’t keep up with. He wanted to savour every minute and yet time insisted on moving infuriatingly fast. He would hold on as tight as he could but the minutes and hours seemed to slip through his grasp like a fist full of sand.

              So much happened during those days, he’d learned so much about what it was to be a teenager on Earth. His friendship with Winn was deepening and strengthening every day, and he thought Winn was growing as a result of it, too. There were activities and lessons to fill every minute of every day, there was so much laughter and smiling that Mon El’s cheeks had even ached at one point, and he never ached. He actually didn’t think it was possible. But he supposed it was one muscle he hadn’t worked out much since arriving on Earth. Since _ever_ , really, if he was being truthful.

It was a happy ache, though, a good one. All of the next two days was good, actually. Although some of it could still be better. He hadn’t gotten another chance to be alone with Kara since their night together, for one, and he was desperate for even just a moment together, alone. Though he wanted more than that, certainly. He still thought about it constantly, and when he tried he could still feel the echo of her kiss on his cheek, the warmth of her hand curled around his own. He’d snuck out of his cabin both nights since then, as early as he dared, and waited for her on the picnic table they’d laid on together. But she hadn’t shown up.

And that was fine. It was disappointing, because he wanted nothing else other than the opportunity to spend time with her again, but he understood. She was human. Humans needed sleep, a lot more than he did at least. He should really feel guilty for even _wanting_ her to show up. _Except…_ He banished the thought as soon as it entered his mind. It was becoming a habit. He was just being crazy. Delusional. Wishful thinking at best, full blown psychosis at worst. Because there’s no way she was… it just wasn’t possible.

And yet, every time he would force the thought from his mind, every time he’d tell himself not to be crazy, _another_ weird thing would happen. There was the first time they’d met and she’d pushed his shoulder, the moment they’d shared at lunch the first day, the time their eyes connected from an impossible distance, her unexplainable appearance in the woods… All of that just on the first day meeting her.

To handle the wild thoughts and ideas all these incidents stirred up inside him, Mon-El just forced himself to believe he was making it up, seeing things that weren’t there. But since then, more things kept happening. Unexplainable things. And every time they did, Kara was there. Like the tug-of-war incident. Mon-El had tried to ensure his team’s success, and it should have been simple. But something on the other side just refused to give. That had been the real tipping point. Since then, he had been especially on alert. Because guess who was on the other team? Of course, it had been Kara.

Since then, he felt himself noticing every little thing. Not even just noticing, if he was being honest. He was _looking_ for things. Strange things. He felt bad, but he couldn’t help it. He was suspicious. It didn’t mean he didn’t like her. On the contrary, he _really_ liked her. It was just that he was… well, he knew something strange was happening, and it had to do with her.

But then every time he’d get carried away with these thoughts, his guilt would build up inside him, boiling over from the knowledge that he was suspecting her of… something. What it was, he didn’t actually know. But he knew sleuthing someone without their consent was bad. So he wasn’t going out of his way to spy on her, wasn’t sneaking around, wasn’t asking people about her. And he wanted to spend time with her because she filled his heart with joy and his stomach with butterflies, not because he wanted to prove she was hiding something.

But he still kept looking for something. Proof. And the guilt continued to build up, because she hadn’t done anything wrong. She had only been sweet, and funny, and welcoming. Mon-El enjoyed everything about her, and he supposed part of the whole thing was that, he missed home. He’d been hoping and dreaming, wishing on shooting stars, praying to Rao… anything he could think of, all to be less alone. For himself not to be the only Daxamite that escaped the destruction of the planet. For someone to be here, have the same powers, understand the same pain of loss as he did… he desperately wished for someone to connect with. To understand him, all of him.

So all of this, all the signs he thought he was seeing in Kara, it was all just projection. Wishful thinking. It wasn’t real. He just wanted it to be real. Because if he could pick one person in all of the known worlds that he would want to share that connection with, he already knew it would be her. But it wasn’t, because that was crazy.

So once again he’d force it from his mind. None of that was real. He would just appreciate her for who she was, not what he hoped she may be. And who she was, was _enough_. It was truly enough. She was everything he’d never known he’d wanted and more. Even just their stolen glances and moments in the past two days during group settings had filled him with enough happiness and satisfaction that these were now officially counted as the best days of his life. Hands down, period. His 13 th name day, his first trip to Sedenach, the crystal planet… they now paled in comparison.

“Dude, are you even listening?” Winn said suddenly, nudging his shoulder and looking at him questioningly, a bemused expression written across his face. _Crap._ Mon-El hadn’t even realized he was so deeply lost in thought. With effort, he felt the glaze in his eyes clear up and his mind force itself to focus in on the present. He had been daydreaming so thoroughly, it was like the world had temporarily faded away.

“Wake up Mikey, you’re kind of like, the quarterback of this team, you’ve gotta know the plays.” Paul added from his other side, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him just a little. Or, he tried to at least. Not expecting the physical contact, Mon-El was as solid as a rock and didn’t budge an inch. Paul was lucky, really, that he hadn’t punched him in the face on reflex. A small corner of his mind seemed to note that maybe that old engrained reaction was finally starting to fade. Shaking his head dramatically, the last of his ruminating thoughtfulness left his mind and he was back in the present. _Right. Capture the Flag. On it._

“Sorry guys, I’m with you.” He said, wrapping his arms around Winn and Paul’s shoulders and leaning in for a huddle. Next to him, Paul’s face lit up on one side and on the other Winn held up a clipboard, his brows narrowing with focus. Mon-El chuckled, seeing Winn so serious, and coming so prepared. “So what’s the play, coach?” He asked, teasing, but Winn didn’t even smile, he was so dialed in and competitive. It was a whole new side of him, Mon-El had to admit he liked it.

“Alright guys, listen up!” Winn said, his tone authoritative and commanding. Mon-El held back a smile. “In the last two years, we’ve never beaten the girls, and we’re _not_ going to make it a third.”

“Not with Mike this year!” Emery said, and Mon-El tried to look humble as the guys murmured agreement. But he couldn’t help but shoot a furtive glance at Jimmy while they did, and saw he wasn’t joining in. He was obviously used to being the star of the team. Mon-El felt a little bad for him, if he was being honest. Because he hadn’t earned it, his strength and speed were unnatural and Jimmy could never compete. But not too bad. Because, while he wasn’t all bad, Jimmy was still a bit of a dick.

While the group settled back down, he heard one or two of them say something quietly about Kara, but he only caught it at the end, hadn’t quite heard what they’d said about her specifically. But he didn’t really have to. It wasn’t what they said that mattered as much as the fact that they’d said it at all. They’d singled her out. Because of course they would. Why wouldn’t they? She seemed to be in the middle of everything, around here. And if there was an unbeatable girls’ team, why wouldn’t they attribute that to her? Just one more mystery to add to the pile that made up the enigma called Kara Danvers.

“I think this is our year, boys!” Winn enthused, refocusing attention on his clip board, pointing down at it. Again, Mon-El held back a snort of laughter. All he needed was a whistle and some tube socks and he’d be every high school gym teacher he’d ever seen in every movie, ever. “Which brings me to my plan. I call it Operation: Distract Kara.” He added, and Mon-El held back a groan as she was brought up again, and Winn pulled out a bag and handed a few items wrapped in tin foil to random guys. Mon-El caught on immediately and simultaneously wanted to laugh at the absurdity but also applaud the practicality. Knowing Kara, this might actually work.

“Somehow, Kara finds our flag every year. And she’s too fast to catch. This year we have two secret weapons, though.” Winn started.

“I caught her once, last year.” James interrupted, and Mon-El saw John, the head counsellor, smirk.

“I think she wanted to be caught by you, last year.” He said, the smirk still holding, and James’ brows knit in annoyance. So did Mon-El’s. He couldn’t help the snarl of jealousy that rose out of his chest at that moment. He knew Kara and James were nothing now, but he didn’t like to think of her with other guys. It was stupid and jealous and macho, but he couldn’t help it. He only ever wanted to think of Kara with him. Actually, it was all he ever thought about already. And they hadn’t even kissed. Rao, he if he was like this now, he didn’t know how he’d handle it after they’d kissed. If they’d ever find any time to be alone again.

“And I’ll remind you that we didn’t win, anyways.” Winn added, to a couple laughs. “That’s where the hot dogs come in…”

The plan was genius. Winn had wrapped up some leftovers from lunch earlier and distributed them to the team. The plan was to distract her long enough that they had a chance to find the girl’s flag. Apparently Kara was like a bloodhound in this game and always found their flag before the guys were even close. Mon-El couldn’t help the conflicting feelings of pride in Kara and that sneaking suspicion that had been circling him for days that there was something… _more…_ to her.

Mon-El’s job was to sneak out into the girl’s territory and find the flag. James would stay back on their turf and guard their own from a distance. Twenty minutes in, things were at a bit of a stand still. Operation distract Kara had worked well enough that Mon-El had been able to sneak by into their territory and slip into the woods unseen, but now that he was there, he couldn’t find their flag anywhere. They were playing on the entire camp ground, so the area was huge, and Mon-El was finding that his powers weren’t actually helping him all that much. He could see far into the distance, but that wasn’t helping because they’d hidden it well. He found himself stopping and trying to listen for the flag, but that was useless.

The only thing his powers had helped him with was avoiding being tagged on the girl’s territory and sent to jail. He’d easily avoided the girls on his search, though he had been cornered by Alex and Maggie in one extremely close call. Luckily he managed to squeeze between two trees and narrowly escape. About thirty minutes in, though, he thought he saw it. A little speck of red showing from a knot in a tree. It was on the very edge of the woods, and if he was to retrieve it, he’d be visible from the field where the majority of the players were.

With his back to a big tree, hiding from view, he tried to make a plan. He had to be fast, but not _too_ fast. Grab the flag and bee-line to the boundary line. He craned his neck around to see where Kara was, but he couldn’t see her. He hoped she wasn’t grabbing his team’s flag at this very moment… he was so close!

“Whatcha looking for?” The voice asked from nowhere and Mon-El just about jumped out of his skin, he was so surprised.

“Aah!” He exclaimed, whipping around to face his opponent, unused to being snuck up on. How had he not heard her coming? “Oh- hey Kara.” He added, casually as possible, as he tried to take a side-step to the left, but she matched his step and stood there, a few feet away, smiling brightly.

“Hey Mike!” She said, and hearing his name, even just his Earth name, come out of her lips sent the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. But he couldn’t be distracted! As much as he wanted to be alone in the woods with Kara Danvers, he had a task at hand, and she was currently the enemy. After almost getting caught in her comet-blue eyes, he decided it was safest to look at something else on her face. Anything but her eyes. But that just backfired when he started noticing how cute her nose was, and how kissable her lips were. “Funny meeting you here.” She added with a waggle of her eyebrows, and she leaned forward to nudge him jovially, but Mon-El stepped back, away from her touch. He wasn’t going to fall for that. One tag from Kara and he was out of the game, sitting in jail on the picnic tables, hoping for a jail break.

Shaking his head a little, he refocused. “I don’t think so.” He said, a smirk rising on his face and his brows narrowing at her, and he wagged a finger. She smiled alluringly and took another step towards him, but he took another step back. “Stay back, devil woman!” He added through a laugh, because she had this intense look on her face. It was playful but devious, seductive and dangerous. At his words though, she broke character and laughed from deep in her belly.

“Is that how it is? From friends to enemies?” She asked, pouting. He full bottom lip shined and Mon-El felt an uncomfortable throbbing and had to look away, though he kept her in his peripheral vision, in case she tried to tag him. When he composed himself, a smile spread on his face.

“That’s exactly how it is.” He replied with a shrug. “You’re dead to me, Kara. Long live capture the flag.” He added, deadpan, and again she laughed. He felt himself glow a little, seeing her smile and knowing he’d caused it.

“That wounds me, Mike.” She replied, dramatically clutching her heart, and he shrugged again.

“All’s fair in love and war.” He responded, and Kara’s eyebrows narrowed a little, her mouth tightening in a cute way like she was trying not to smile. “So Kara, as much as I’ve been looking forward to being alone in the wood with you again, I’ve unfortunately got this _thing_ to get to right now, so… call me, okay?” The words poured out of him without thinking, he was just trying to be funny.

“Oh, a _thing,_ do you?” She asked, laughing, putting on a deeply suspicious act.

“Yeah, this really important thing, so if we could just rain-check this, that would be great…” He replied. And she opened her mouth to respond, but then she closed it. Her demeanor suddenly faltered. Her teasing confidence disappeared and she almost appeared… shy. Her eyes widened before her head bowed a little and she looked up at him with wide, bashful eyes. A small smile played at her lips and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You’ve been looking forward to being alone with me?” She asked, her voice quiet, the shy smile still on her lips, but the question struck Mon-El completely by surprise. Well of course he was… but had he really said that to her? That was the kind of thing he just thought about, not said to her face! At the realization that, yes, he had said that to her, his eyes widened, his body stiffened, as his brain raced and searched for the right answer. The stupid thing was the answer was easy, just say yes. That’s all he had to say. On Daxam he would have found some way to be smooth about this, but there was something about Kara and the depth of his feelings for her that made him instantly clam up.

“Uhhh…” He said, stalling, his eyes now flashing around for an escape plan, and she seemed to notice. The crinkle in her forehead was deepening.

“You’re going to run for it, aren’t you?” She asked suddenly, and his eyes, previously searching for an escape, shot back to hers. She was wearing a competitive scowl, though it didn’t completely hide the smile underneath. He knew he probably looked like a deer in headlights, but he shook his head.

“Me? No…” He replied, but he couldn’t help himself from glancing at the tree where the girls’ team flag was hidden, but Kara didn’t miss that and her brows were narrowing.

“Don’t do it, Mike.” She said. And the tension mounted in the air between them as they stood there, four feet apart, like the moments before a duel. He weighed his options, but it seemed there was nothing else to do. She knew he knew where the flag was, she wasn’t going to leave him alone now. He’d just have to beat her there.

“Gotta go!” He said quickly, as he turned and bolted away from her. He was going to have to be very careful. He was obviously capable of running faster than the human eye, beating her wouldn’t be a problem. But he had to be careful of running faster than a human should be able to run. He could be fast, but not faster than, say, an Olympic sprinter. He would have to carefully measure his speed so as not to out himself as an Alien.

So far, that had been easy. He’d beaten Jimmy with ease in every competition, and hadn’t gained any suspicion. It was simple, just figure out how fast he was going, and go just a little bit faster. So he had the same game plan here, with Kara. Except, like so many things to do with Kara, something was different.

Every time he’d put on a little burst of speed, so would she. Every time he’d try to put some distance between them, she’d keep pace. He was running at a human speed, so it didn’t necessarily mean anything other than she was _fast_ , but it was very, very strange.

As they quickly started covering the distance between them and the flag, Mon-El began to panic a little. He needed to be farther ahead if he was going to be able to stop, grab the flag, and make it back to his team. Again he put on a burst of speed. He was now going worryingly fast, he didn’t feel that he could go any faster without being suspicious. And still she kept pace. This should be impossible! He risked a look back at her as he ran, and found an equally curious and shocked look on her face, her eyebrows narrowed in concentration as she ran. Her eyes found his instantly and there was a startling connection there, but Mon-El had to turn back.

As he arrived at the tree, just steps ahead of Kara, he tried to grab the flag and go, but she was too fast. His hand was gripped around the red hand towel when she crashed into him, her arms closing around him as her momentum carried them down to the ground. Mon-El was too busy being shocked by her speed to think about the fact that she had just pulled him to the ground and hadn’t crashed into him like a wall and injured herself, like everyone else would have.

So together they tumbled, Mon-El turning a little and landing on his back with an ‘oof’ and Kara landed right onto his chest, laughing. For a moment that seemed to last a lifetime, they laid there, the full weight of Kara’s body pressing down on his own, both of their chests heaving as they caught their breath. Kara was smiling down at him, but the smile was twisted a little and her crinkle was showing between her brows. She looked extremely impressed but very surprised.

As the initial shock of their collision passed, Mon-El began to become _very_ aware at her body’s proximity to his as the weight of her pressed down against him. He prayed to Rao that nothing embarrassing would happen as he debated rolling her off and moving away or allowing this to continue as long as she’d let it. The second option won in the end, of course.

“You’re fast.” They both finally said together in unison, causing them both to laugh. Kara lowered her face and pressed her forehead into his shoulder.

“Yeah, well, I…” Mon-El started, but Kara raised her head and finished for him.

“Run track? I know.” She said, chuckling, though it trailed off into silence after a moment as they both gazed into each other’s eyes, a little dazed. Mon-El shrugged from beneath her.

“Not fast enough, though, I guess.” He admitted with a smirk and now it was her turn to shrug.

“I got you.” She declared triumphantly, her eyes shining with mischief, and Mon-El felt his body glow.

“Yeah… you got me.” He agreed, his voice softer than intended, just barely a whisper, and he didn’t know if he was talking about the game, or more. She was simply breathtaking, and he found himself instantly forgetting about the game and getting lost in her. Winn would kill him, but he didn’t care. All that mattered was Kara right now, and it seemed the softness of his words had affected her. The triumph washed from her face and the shy smile was back.

His eyes darted down to her lips, he couldn’t help himself, but then back up to meet her intense gaze. She looked like she was debating something, and his eyes were drawn back to her mouth as she bit her lip nervously. Seeing that sent a jolt through his body, and he was instantly overtaken with desire. Desire to kiss her, to close the distance between them and finally feel her breath on his. She was so close, all he’d have to do was lean up.

But he didn’t have to. Because with a gleam of determination and triumph in her eye, Kara was leaning down. Her lips were unbelievably soft and warm as they connected with his, and he was so surprised he let out a contented hum. She lifted her hand to cup his face as their soft chaste kiss stretched on, leaving it there as she finally pulled back a few inches to look into his eyes. Without thinking, Mon-El’s own hand rose to gently rest on the small of her back.

Her expression was inscrutable. It was saying so much, but Mon-El couldn’t seem to interpret the message. There was hope and desire there, she liked him, he could tell that, and the thought filled him with warmth and satisfaction. But there was something else. Confusion. Or maybe… suspicion? But whatever the look was, it was gone as soon as he saw it and he was already questioning it was there to begin with.

“I’ve got my eye on you.” She said suddenly, a shy smile showing on her face, accompanied by her crinkle. Mon-El smiled widely in response, wrapping his other arm around her back and leaning up to kiss her one more time. It was a bold move, but it was a calculated risk. Besides, he needed just one more. Who knew when they’d be alone together again?

“I’ve got both my eyes on you.” He said in response, his voice thick with satisfaction as he pulled away from their second kiss. She giggled shyly in response, pressing her face into his chest bashfully. Then she pulled up suddenly, her look stern.

“Don’t think this means you’re getting out of going to jail.” She said firmly, and he laughed loudly at this, and she joined in, rolling off from on top of him and standing up. She held out a hand to help him up when she did, and he accepted, brushing off the pine needles that were stuck to his clothes.

“I wouldn’t dare think that.” He replied finally, honestly. Her smile turned satisfied at his words and she nodded, raising one brow at him.

“So you really are getting to know me.” She said brightly, holding out her hand for him to take. She didn’t have to twist his arm to make him want to hold her hand, so he took it willingly and allowed himself to be led to the picnic tables. Besides, she’d beaten him fair and square, even if he had no idea how she did it. As they walked, he had this vague feeling like he should be more concerned about that, but all he could focus on at this moment was that kiss. It was playing on an endless loop in his head and he suspected it would for a long time to come.

              As they crested the hill Mon-El could see the picnic tables below, and most of his team was already sitting there, looking dejected. He heard a few of them swear as they caught sight of him being dragged in by Kara. “Not again!” someone shouted. Winn looked like he wanted to cry as Mon-El plunked down beside him. To make him feel better, he draped his arm around his friend’s shoulders.

              “I’m sorry, buddy. I tried my best. She was too fast.” He tried to explain, and Winn looked up at him and sighed deeply.

              “It was such a good plan! I thought for sure, this year…” Then he dropped his head back into his hands and Mon-El laughed. Winn would be a good sport about this, but he loved how melodramatic he was, and competitive with Kara.

              “I don’t think you brought enough hot dogs.” Mon-El replied and felt Winn’s chest rise and fall with an involuntary laugh. Sitting up straight, he turned to Mon-El.

              “You know she actually ate one?” He asked with a chuckle. “She said thank you, then she finished it and _still_ caught me.” He moaned, though the expression on his face was fond. Mon-El smiled next to him.

              “She’s pretty special.” He agreed.

              “You don’t even know the half of it.” Winn said, and Mon-El nodded but held back the blinding smile that was trying to break through as he remembered the kiss. He was going to tell Winn, but not with all these people around. For now he just nodded in agreement.

              “Yeah, but I think I’m starting to learn.”

              They sat there a few more minutes before a couple guys started booing and shouting, jeering at something, and the girls in jail started cheering. Mon-El quickly looked to see the source of the commotion and wasn’t surprised one bit to see Kara, jogging effortlessly across the field in the distance, smiling widely as she waived the boy’s red flag triumphantly.

              How she did it, Mon-El had no idea. She had been gone for less than five minutes, tops. How had she found their hiding spot? It had bordered on ingenious, camouflaged completely in a rose bush in the Matthews’ garden, the red from the flowers making the flag almost disappear from plain sight. It had been Winn’s plan, he’d been apparently thinking of that spot since last year, and Mon-El knew he’d be disappointed.

              As she arrived at the jail holding the flag high, she was met with a crowd of girls, all cheering and taunting the boys. It took a few minutes for everyone to disperse enough for Mon-El to approach her. He was slow clapping as he did, his eyebrows raised in admiration. “ _Very_ impressive.” He said, and she smiled. “You know, I think you could go pro.” He added, and she laughed.

              “I hear the world of competitive capture the flag pays really well.” She replied, not missing a beat, and not it was his turn to laugh.

              “So are you going to tell me how you found our flag so fast?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her. At this, her smile turned conspiratorial, and she leaned in for effect.

              “I told you, I’ve got x-ray vision.” She whispered harshly before once again waggling her eyebrows comically, and he had to laugh, even if he was left with even more questions than before.

              “You know, I’m starting to believe you.” He said, half serious. Though he did still have reservations, thoughts that maybe he was still being delusional. Seeing things that weren’t there. But before he had the chance to think much about it, Alex and Maggie were joining her, along with other girls, and pulling her away.

              As she left with them, she turned back to find that Mon-El was still staring after her, and their eyes connected. For a brief moment Mon-El felt his heart pound at the now familiar electric shock, but then she winked before turning back and he couldn’t help but chuckle. Whatever she was, human, alien, siren… he was well and truly under her spell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They kissed! Just a little kiss, but they kissed! I didn't know if I was going to do it this chapter, but it seemed to fit and after that episode on Monday I needed some love in my life :'D I hope you guys liked this, let me know what you thought!!! Your comments and kudos are so motivational :) I have a plan for this fic and we are slowly getting there, thanks so much for sticking with me for this journey!


	8. Moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Mon-El wakes up suddenly from a dream, his night takes a very unexpected turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual I'm sorry about the time I took to update but I hope you guys really enjoy this! it's kind of an important chapter, I just love these teenage versions of Mon, Kara, and Winn. I hope you enjoy!

              The feeling of weightlessness was strange and foreign, and yet it felt so wonderful. It seemed to fill him up like a balloon with calm and serenity, with _rightness,_ and he wanted to bask in the sensation for as long as he could. It was intoxicating. It was exactly the feeling he had after her lips had touched his own. The joy and bursting of his heart, the warm glowing feeling of his extremities, the fluttering of his stomach. It was all of that and more, in a dream that he never wanted to end. He was flying. With Kara.

              Everything was perfect until, in his dream, he remembered that he didn’t actually know how to fly. And then suddenly he realized that he must be dreaming, and that’s when he began to fall. In fact, the falling felt so real that he awoke with a sudden start right as he hit the ground, his eyes shooting open, instantly wide awake. He looked around, trying to shake this bizarre feeling that he’d _actually_ just fallen into bed. But that was crazy. He was still in his sleeping bag… sure maybe he had thought he’d heard a muffled thud as he awoke but that could have just been part of the dream.

              Whatever the case was, Mon-El tried to shake it off. It was just a dream. _A dream about Kara_. He sighed, smiling involuntarily as he thought of her. No wonder he had dreamt about flying. She made his heart soar. She was all he seemed to be able to think about when he was alone. Yes, these past two days he’d been wondering a lot about the strange things that happened when she was around, but mostly he’d just think about how kind she was, or how funny, or pretty. Sometimes he’d just wonder what it was about her, _specifically_ , that made him so crazy about her. But he didn’t have an answer to that. He just _was._

Lots of girls were pretty or funny or kind, but there was just something about Kara… he tried not to give too much credence to the thought because it was simply crazy, but it felt like she touched something in his soul. Something he’d never be able to describe to Winn or even Kara herself. Something he couldn’t even describe to himself. But it all boiled down to the fact that he was crazy about her. Even if she was totally lying to him about something. Something big. And she was. But he was still crazy about her.

But Mon-El didn’t have much time to think about that because Winn’s head suddenly popped down from the top bunk, surprising him. “You okay, dude?” He asked in a hushed tone, punctuating his question with a deep yawn. Mon-El furrowed his eyebrows, confused.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good. I was just...” He paused, his gaze drifting as he tried to catch hold of the fleeting memory of the dream, but it slipped through his fingers the more he focused on it. “Dreaming.” He finally added. Then, shaking it off, he looked back at Winn. “Why?” He asked.

“There was a mildly alarming crash down there, shook the bunk. I thought you fell off the bed.” He explained, and Mon-El didn’t know how to respond. That was strange. “Bad dream?” Winn asked, and Mon-El once again tried to remember the details, though they were already eluding him like dreams so often did. But he was sure it hadn’t been bad. Not until the end, at least.

“No… good, actually. Sorry man, did I wake you up?” Mon-El whispered up at Winn, feeling a little guilty, though for what he wasn’t so sure. All he could see of his friend was the dark outline of his head shaking before being pulled back up and over the edge.

“No, I was up…” Winn said, though there was a strange edge to his voice. Mon-El could hear it, even in their hushed tones. He paused, but rather than responding, Mon-El waited for Winn to finish. Because for some reason he knew there was more. He actually thought he might know what it was all about, and a fond smile turned up the corner of his lips as he waited. And sure enough, a moment later, Winn’s head popped back over the edge and Mon-El sat up a little, propping himself up on his elbow. “Hey Mike?” He asked, and Mon-El’s smile spread.

“Yeah Winn?” He responded.

“You know, if you needed to, say, go out to the washhouse and you wanted company, I’d be willing to do that.” He said as casually as possible, and Mon-El had to try not to laugh. “In case you were afraid of, like, bats in your hair or sucking your blood. Or wolves. Or bears. Or deer. Or general night-related terrors that could potentially get you on your way from here to the washhouse. Because I’m a good friend like that.” He added, before pulling back up and flopping onto his mattress, and now Mon-El did laugh, a snort that he held back just barely. He was sure his smile could be heard in his voice as he replied.

“Don’t forget about ghosts. Or vampires.” He added.

Winn’s voice was serious as he leaned back over for a third time, trying to look Mon-El in the eye by the faint light of the moon and the one porch light on the cabin that shone dimly through the window. “I never forget about ghosts or vampires.” He responded, deadpan, and Mon-El fell back and tried to muffle his laugh. But then he was nodding and pulling his knees up to slip out of his sleeping bag quietly. He groped around the floor with his feet until he found his flip flops while Winn carefully and quietly descended from his bunk beside him. They both tip-toed together the few steps to the door and opened it as slowly as possible.

When they were safely outside in the calm, humid summer air, Winn turned to Mon-El and slapped his shoulder briefly in thanks before stuffing his hands inside his hoodie pocket. “Thanks, man. I was up for, like, twenty minutes before you woke up.” He said, louder than before over the chorus of crickets, the only thing that could be heard in the night sky other than an odd splash in the distance. Mon-El smiled over at him but frowned a little when he saw his tight, hunched shoulders and the way his eyes darted around in the darkness. “I know it’s stupid. I just don’t like being out here alone at night.”

At this Mon-El’s frown turned up at the edges and he draped his arm around Winn as they walked. It was quite easy due to the six-inch height difference. “Nah, not stupid. Lots of people don’t like the dark. I love it out here though. I don’t mind coming along with you.” Mon-El said sincerely, and he felt a little of the tension roll out from Winn’s shoulders, but the moment quickly turned uncomfortably sentimental for two teenage boys, so Mon-El quickly added. “Plus, I’d hate for my best friend to get eaten by a chupacabra.” And he felt Winn laugh, so he slid his arm off his shoulder, knowing he was better.

His moment of embarrassment gone, Winn laughed again and turned towards Mon-El shaking his head. “No, they’re all down south near Mexico. Up here it’d more likely be a bigfoot.” He corrected, and now it was Mon-El’s turn to laugh.

“Do bigfoots—bigfeet?—do they eat people?” He asked. “I don’t think they eat people.” He added, chuckling as Winn nodded enthusiastically.

“Of course they eat people! How else would you explain the fact that there’s no clear pictures of one?” He asked, challenging Mon-El, who tried to hold back his smile as he shrugged.

“Well, could be that they’re not real.” He reasoned, and Winn waved a hand brushing off the idea as ludicrous.

“No, it’s just no one has seen one and lived to tell about it.” He replied, completely seriously, until his act cracked a moment later and he began laughing too.

“Good point.” Mon-El agreed, as they arrived at the steps to the boy’s half of the washhouse. It was up the hill a little further from the boys cabins, amongst the trees on the way to another bank of cabins that would be used when the kids came on Monday. Inside there were two shower stalls, two toilet stalls, a sink, one very flickery light, and about a thousand spiders. Not to mention a pervasive odour that was very off-putting, especially to one with heightened senses. Mon-El didn’t have to use the restroom presently and had no desire to go inside so he sat down on the bottom step and Winn opened the door with a creak and disappeared inside.

Not that he wasn’t enjoying his company, but the second Winn closed the door behind himself, Mon-El felt the calmness of the night welcome him, and the serene feeling from earlier, right after he awoke, was back. Unlike Winn, Mon-El had nothing to fear in the dark, and he relaxed right into the hypnotic chirping of the crickets, listening intently to the gentle rustle of small animals as they scurried through the woods. He found the stillness of the night so relaxing, he closed his eyes and _listened_ , just enjoying the sounds of nature while he waited for Winn. That’s when he heard another strange splash in the distance.

He wouldn’t have heard it on most nights, but the wind had stopped completely and with the lack of rustling from the woods, Mon-El found he could hear for miles. Whatever the sound was, it was down by the beach, by the campfire pit. Something big splashing into the water. He found himself intrigued, and had he been along he certainly would have gone down to investigate. But as if on cue, Winn came outside, wiping his wet hands over his sweater and flannel pants to dry them off, interrupting Mon-El from his thought.

“We’re out of paper towels again.” He said in explanation, and Mon-El turned away from the sound of the splash and looked up at Winn.

“Good to go?” He asked, to which Winn responded with a thumbs-up. “You know, you had me out here watching for bigfoot but you were sleeping on the real threat.” He added, thoughtfully, nudging Winn with his elbow teasingly.

“What’s that?” Winn asked, playing along.

“Death by spiders.” Mon-El replied, and Winn’s eyes went wide as he nodded enthusiastically before turning it into an emphatic head shake. He crossed his arms before slashing them outward dramatically in Winn-fashion to emphasize his point.

“Dude! It was THIS CLOSE!” He agreed, pinching his fingers and holding them up.

“That would be a terrible way to go.” Mon-El said with a shudder. He obviously wasn’t afraid of spiders, but he didn’t have to like them, either.

“Seriously.” He agreed, before continuing sheepishly. “Although, you know I’d probably take death by spiders over Jimmy finding out I’m afraid of the dark.”

Mon-El felt his brow furrow at that, his mouth twisting before he spoke. “I bet he’s got lots he’s afraid of.” He said finally, not really knowing what to say. Because it really would suck if he found out, despite having some good moments, Jimmy was a bit of an asshole and he’d probably tease Winn relentlessly.

“I mean, you wouldn’t—“ Winn replied awkwardly, but Mon-El knew where he was going and he whipped towards him smacking his arm a little as he did.

“Tell him???” He asked, and at least Winn had the grace to look embarrassed. But Mon-El let him off the hook almost immediately because Winn probably had years of insecurities built up inside him from guys like James, he didn’t blame him for worrying. But he needed to reassure him that he’d never say anything to anyone about Winn that wasn’t complimentary. “Dude, I’d never tell Jimmy—or anyone for that matter—anything you told me in trust.” He said to him, holding eye contact to make sure he believed him.

He saw Winn’s eyes relax as he did, and just like that the tension was gone. “Okay good because neither would I.” He agreed. Then his expression turned mischievous. “Like, I’d never tell Jimmy that you and Kara totally kissed.” He said suddenly, and Mon-El let out a slight squeak as he tried and failed to take a breath, his mouth hanging open as he tried to search for something to say.

“Uhhhh, wha?” Was all he managed as he continued to struggle to figure out how Winn knew! It had only just happened today! Mon-El hadn’t even had the chance to tell Winn yet. “How?” He added, his mind slowly catching up to the smirk on Winn’s face.

“I didn’t know for sure, but now I do.” He said, laughing smugly, and Mon-El scowled.

“But how?”

“It was obvious, you’ve been in the clouds ever since she hauled you into jail.” Winn explained.

“I—“ But Mon-El was cut off. He wanted nothing more than to hammer Winn with questions right now, and it was the perfect opportunity, but he was completely interrupted by a scream in the distance. It was just barely heard as a faint breeze picked up and the trees around them rustled loudly. It was so faint, he wasn’t entirely sure he had heard it at first, but he had heard _something_ at least. He paused, obviously listening for something, and Winn followed step, freezing beside him.

“What?” He whispered, but Mon-El held a finger to his lips and issued a harsh ‘shhhh’. For a moment all was quiet as the breeze settled down. But then it picked back up and just as the trees started to rustle, this time he heard it clear as day. It was a cry for help. Down by the beach where he heard the splash earlier. “I don’t hear anything.” Winn said, shrugging, and Mon-El had an internal debate. He wanted nothing more than to rush off at superhuman speed to help whoever had screamed like that, whoever had called for help, but he also wanted to keep his secret identity, well… secret.

If Winn couldn’t hear anything, then Mon-El shouldn’t have been able to either. Plus he needed to ditch Winn casually if he was going to save whoever was in trouble in time. Mustering up every acting skill he had, he shrugged as well. “Must have been nothing.” He said as they arrived back at the cabin, then he looked off towards the Matthews’ house, then back at Winn. “Hey man, I’m up, I don’t think I’m getting back to sleep soon. I think I might try to sneak into my room to grab some DVDs for us to watch on your laptop. You know Phil and Carol have me on a full ban from the house, this is probably my best chance.”

He hoped he was casual enough, he didn’t want Winn to want to go with him. But instead Winn yawned deeply before holding out his hand for Mon-El to slap. “No worries dude, good call. Don’t forget Star Wars! I’m gonna go back to bed.” He said with another yawn.

“I won’t forget.” Mon-El reassured him, but he was bouncing a little on the balls of his feet, trying not to look nervously towards the woods that would take him to the campfire beach. Thankfully, Winn turned then with another boisterous yawn and disappeared inside the cabin. Mon-El tried to walk as casually as possible until he was sure that he was out of view of the cabin, and then he put on some _real_ speed. He was down at the waterfront in a blink of an eye. He slid to a stop, looking around wildly, his heart pounding, hoping to Rao he wasn’t too late.

“Hello?” He called out. “Hello are you okay?” He paused to listen over the chorus of crickets. Luckily, he didn’t have to wait long.

“Help!” A girl’s voice called from somewhere above him, thick with panic, and Mon-El felt a chill run down his spine as it did. He’d recognize that voice anywhere, though he’d never heard her so scared. He felt his heart race even more in response.

“Kara!?” He screamed, squinting up, trying to catch sight of her in the tall shadowy trees, the starry sky behind her not helping at all. But she was in a tree again! Of course she was. She was lucky to get down safely last time, what was she thinking? He had only been joking when he told her to meet him at the top of the tallest tree. What kind of crazy person would take that as an actual invitation? “Kara where are you!?” He called.

Despite all his skepticism of her normality, his suspicions (possible delusions) that she was strong and fast like him, all of that went out the window as he felt his heart constrict at the sight when he traced the origin of her next scream. “Mike!” She cried again. “Mike help!” She was hanging, _clinging_ , to a branch, 60 feet above the rocky shore. She was soaking wet, wearing a short pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt that clung to her… had she been jumping in? From that height? She would have had to jump way out, to get past the rocks to deep enough water. Was that even possible? Above her there was a large newly snapped branch, and he gathered it had cracked under her weight.

As he took in the scene, the branch she was hanging from groaned loudly and she screamed, and Mon-El didn’t have time for rational thought anymore. “Shit!” Mon-El shouted, not knowing what to do. And as if to make matters worse, the branch let out another big crack and she sank a few inches lower, shrieking as she did. “Kara how did you get up there?” He asked, his hand groping at his face as he tried to figure out a way out of this. Though the answer didn’t really matter. If he didn’t move fast, she would fall and die.

There was very little chance a human could survive a fall like that. The tree was enormous, and it leaned out over the water. There was a rotten old rope swing tied to one of the branches below her, though it was cut near the base by Carol and Phil a few years ago. He’d heard from Winn that someone had gotten hurt on the rocks, they hadn’t swung far enough. Mon-El’s stomach turned to ice at the thought.

“Kara I’m going to help you!” He shouted, but he froze. Mike the human would not be able to do anything about this. He wouldn’t be able to help her. Wouldn’t be able to save her. But Mon-El could.

Helping her would expose him for what he was, could potentially repulse her, could be the act that finally makes the government swoop in and go all E.T. on him. It could be the end of his secret identity, short lived as it was, and that was his greatest fear: what would happen if someone found out. Except now that he thought about it, that wasn’t his greatest fear anymore. His greatest fear would be to lose Kara because he was too afraid to act. Because not helping her right now could mean her life. There was simply no question about it.

All thought left his head as the branch snapped and she began to fall. He didn’t hear her scream his name, didn’t think about acting, he just _acted._ He didn’t think about the way he tensed his legs down like a coil and sprung upwards to meet her, but he did it anyways. She was falling and he launched himself upwards to catch her, consequences be damned. He also didn’t think about the fact that he seemed to be _steering_ his jump mid-flight. All of his focus was on rescuing her.

He got to her just in time, wrapping both of his arms around her middle and trying to cradle her body inside his, to take the brunt of the impact if they had a rough landing. They crashed through the branches together, flying through the air, except the landing never came. But he was so focused on Kara, so scared for her safety, he didn’t even notice. They came to a stop and he was hovering, his arms around her middle, holding her tightly to himself, about 30 feet above the rocks below.

He must have scrunched his eyes closed as he caught her, but after a moment, he found it in himself to open them up. He didn’t know what he expected to be in Kara’s eyes. Fear? Revulsion? But whatever he’d expected it wasn’t this. Because she wasn’t afraid, she didn’t look like someone who had almost just fallen to her death. Her eyes were wide open and she had the world’s biggest gloating smile as she beamed at him from inches away. “I knew it!” She crowed, throwing her head back and wiggling it around in excitement before looking back at him. She was a little out of breath, and she looked at him with pure amazement… but not surprise. “I _told_ Alex! She didn’t believe me!” She practically sang.

Mon-El didn’t know what to say. He was looking back at Kara with pure relief, but also absolute incredulity. She was okay! But she also _knew_ about him? He was so confused, everything was going so fast, but then suddenly everything slowed down completely. It was like time had stood still as their eyes caught. The gloating glee faded in Kara’s face and her eyes softened and Mon-El felt the blood rushing through his body, forgetting everything that had happened. He was suddenly acutely aware of her proximity, of the fact that she was pressed up against him, and Kara must have noticed too because she blushed, even under the light of the stars and moon he knew she blushed. But she held the eye contact, and bit the inside of her lip just a little, but Mon-El must have hesitated too long because her arms softly disentangled with his and she stepped back away from him.

“You saved me.” She said, and her smile sent an ache through his heart. He was so caught up in the moment he still hadn’t realized that they weren’t actually standing on the ground. He didn’t know how it happened, but somewhere along the line he hadn’t realized he’d never landed. His eyes went wide at the realization… he was _flying!_

“Kara, I’m—I’m flying!” He said, not knowing how to process this new development. And then he looked at her and realized—“You’re flying too!” He practically shouted, pointing at her in shock, and she giggled and shrugged, looking at him like he was silly.

“Well yeah, can’t you normally fly?” She asked, and he felt his eyes widen and a cold wave wash over him as he started shaking his head.

“No… uh, this is—this is new.” He replied, still in shock. And all of a sudden, the details of his dream earlier came flooding back to him, and it was like someone had stuck a pin in his balloon. Where he’d been hovering, he now dropped like a stone.

“Ah!” He exclaimed, not so much scared of the fall as surprised, but this time it was Kara that swooped down to catch him, neatly under the knees and around his back, like a bride, and she whooped as she did, laughing as she continued the momentum like an arc, bringing him out to the water.

“Mike! I knew it! I _knew_ it!” She cheered, happy as can be, before tossing him up above the lake and doing an elaborate spin in the air before diving down into the water below. Mon-El’s descent in the lake was less graceful, crashing down like a ton of bricks.

When he emerged, sputtering, Kara was already gracefully treading water, smiling softly at him, waiting. Her hair was slicked back against her head and she didn’t have her glasses on, so her big eyes stunned him as they sparkled the reflection of the stars above. Without thinking, Mon-El stopped sputtering as he looked into her eyes. He wasn’t even treading water, he seemed locked in place by her gaze. How in all of Rao’s plans could he have been so lucky to have found this girl? Their world had died, they’d traveled across the stars to find each other _here._ In _this_ time. In _this_ camp.

He must have been the luckiest guy in the world, because there was no mistaking the look on her face right now. He felt himself drawn in by it, his eyes flicking between her eyes and her mouth, her full shiny lips, and like a tractor beam he was helpless by the pull. He had so many questions for her, but in the moment hey all seemed like they could wait.

“Kara”, he whispered, moving slowly ever closer towards her. She pressed her lips together, dimples showing in her cheeks in response, before her smile widened showing her teeth. His breath caught in his chest as he was stunned by her beauty, and he shook his head a little, tiny droplets of water flying, in an attempt to shake the spell but it was useless. “Kara I’m—“

But in that moment she cut him off, quickly closing the distance between them, crashing her lips to his, her arms reaching around him and pulling him close. For a moment they just stayed still, floating weightlessly in the water, their arms around each other, their kiss soft and chaste. But quickly it turned to more. She exhaled a soft sound into his mouth as he parted his lips and she matched him, their tongues shyly exploring at first before intensifying to a rhythm and dance so soft and wonderful, unlike anything Mon-El had ever experienced before.

Their kiss deepened and stretched on, their hands moving up and down the other’s back, fingers snaking into hair, and neither of them noticed as they slowly rose out of the water to hover a few feet above the surface, their sopping bodies dripping down into the lake below.

Mon-El was in ecstasy. Kara’s kiss matched him just perfectly. She was aggressive but sweet, soft but strong. They seemed to fit together in a way that just made sense, so perfect it was indescribable. It was like he’d never been kissed before in his life, like nothing from before mattered and nothing else would ever compare.

Eventually, after minutes, the kiss softened and slowed. When they finally pulled their lips apart, Mon-El sighed with contentment and leaned his forehead against hers, keeping her as close to him as he could. He was smiling, and after a pause he opened his eyes to see that she was too. They pulled their heads apart and both of their smiles widened, Kara’s turning playful again.

“Wow.” Was all he could say, and she laughed and nodded.

“Yeah, uh huh.” She agreed, blushing, and then she looked down at the water below them. “Are you sure you don’t know how to fly?” She asked quizzically, and then for the second time today Mon-El realized he’d been flying without thinking about it. And just like the first time, like Wile Coyote running off the side of a cliff, the second he looked down and noticed, he dropped like a stone into the water below.

But this time he pulled into a cannon ball at the last second, sending up a huge splash that got even Kara from where she hung a few feet above the surface. She yelled playfully as he did, and as he surfaced he saw a menacing, evil smile on her face. “Oh, it’s on.” She said mock-threateningly, and Mon-El’s eyes went wide, playing along, before he laughed and reached back to wind up for a big splash.

But he was too slow. Kara took a deep breath and _blew_ , and Mon-El was instantly thrown back by a massive wave, and he could hear her laughing in victory as he tried to regain his control. He’d been knocked around by the force of it, and by the time he recovered, Kara was diving in from above. She surfaced a few feet away from him, and he could see her teeth clearly in the moonlight, smiling widely as usual. “Got you.” She said, a little competitively, and Mon-El laughed.

“That’s not fair. I didn’t know how to do _that_.” He retorted, to which she laughed.

“That’s okay, I’ll teach you.” She said brightly, clearly excited by the idea, and Mon-El felt the butterflies flutter inside him all over again. He didn’t think it would matter how many times they kissed, how much time they would spend together, he didn’t think those butterflies would ever go away.

“I’d like that.” He replied, his voice quiet and breathy, his smile softening as he looked into her eyes. He allowed the moment to become heavy, and saw her smile soften too, saw her wet her lips in anticipation. She leaned forward a little, eyes closing… and that’s when he hit her with a massive splash, right in the face. Her eyes scrunched closed further as the water hit and opened wide as saucers an instant later, shock written all over her face, but Mon-El just laughed and waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. “Got you.” He said, matching her competitiveness, and at this she laughed, splashing him back before pushing his shoulders playfully.

“Okay, so that’s how this is going to be!” She laughed, and with that they were at war. Splashing, laughing, occasionally shouting, occasionally pausing to kiss under the stars. It was the most magical, perfect night. Mon-El thought nothing could ever get any better. Yes, he had a million questions to ask her, yes he should possibly be a little mad at her for scaring him like that, but none of that mattered now. Because in this moment, they were both just experiencing the joy of being together. All that other stuff could wait at least for them to make it to solid ground.

But he wasn’t in any rush, because this moment was perfect. Kara was perfect, and he couldn’t believe the fullness in his heart at the knowledge that she was like _him._ She understood him. And suddenly that crazy feeling from earlier, the one about feeling a soul connection with her… well suddenly it didn’t seem so crazy anymore.

And so he splashed her back, diving under the water to try to grab her feet. Everything else could wait. For now he wanted to live this moment to the fullest, because he had a feeling he’d be playing it back in his head for years to come. Leave the questions for later. For now, he just wanted to be with her, play water war with her. And this time, he wasn’t going to let her win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh I can't wait to hear what you guys thought!!! I love these baby puppies so much, I hope you enjoyed the fluff during this time of extreme tv angst, I'm going to try to keep the updates more regular over the hiatus!
> 
> Thanks as usual to everyone that leaves kudos and comments and helps motivate me to keep this story going! I love you guys so much!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I really hope you liked it!! :) Should I continue???


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